A 35-year-old Brooklyn man died after he was thrown from his dirt bike and struck by a passing car on Malcolm X Boulevard in Bedford-Stuyvesant. Detwan Hannah was riding a 2017 Kawasaki dirt bike northbound near Macon Street on Tuesday when he hit a dip in the road, was ejected onto the roadway, and was then struck by a 2016 Mercedes-Benz also traveling northbound.
Hannah was rushed to Kings County Hospital in critical condition and later died from his injuries, according to News 12 Brooklyn. The 28-year-old driver of the Mercedes remained at the scene and was subsequently taken into custody. That driver, identified as Keon Davis, a Georgia resident, now faces charges of criminally negligent homicide, unlicensed operation and aggravated unlicensed operation, per the same report.
The aggravated unlicensed operation charge stems from New York Vehicle and Traffic Law § 511, which makes it a crime to drive knowing or having reason to know one's license is suspended or revoked, according to FindLaw. Third- and second-degree aggravated unlicensed operation are misdemeanors, while first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation is a Class E felony, the legal reference notes.
What Criminally Negligent Homicide Means for Davis
The Marwaha Law Group article cited here does not provide further details on the specific circumstances of the criminally negligent homicide charge. Davis's case remains pending in the criminal justice process.
Separately, the dirt bike Hannah was riding may have been considered an all-terrain vehicle and may be registered and operated on public roads after alterations that make it street-legal, according to Carrion Accident & Injury Attorneys. The firm discusses headlights, taillights, horns, mirrors and DOT standards in relation to street legality. The vehicle's legal status is separate from how the crash itself unfolded, and it does not bear on the pending criminal allegations against Davis.
A Borough Grappling With Illegal Dirt Bikes and Crash Trends
The city has taken visible steps against illegal dirt bike use in the past. In June 2022, Mayor Eric Adams and the NYPD held a public event at a Brooklyn auto pound where heavy machinery bulldozed nearly 100 seized dirt bikes and ATVs, as reported by FOX 5 New York. NYPD auto pounds routinely destroy confiscated off-road vehicles seized during neighborhood quality-of-life patrols, the outlet noted at the time. Residents can also report illegal dirt bike storage or operation through a dedicated NYC 311 category, which frequently drives targeted precinct enforcement, according to NYC 311.
Brooklyn leads all New York City boroughs in total motor vehicle collisions, contributing to a citywide average of roughly 96,000 crashes per year, per The Orlow Firm. Major arterial thoroughfares and dense residential avenues in the borough account for a disproportionate share of the city's severe vehicular accidents, the firm notes. That backdrop comes even as citywide traffic fatalities have fallen sharply, with NYC DOT recording a historic low of 205 traffic deaths in 2025, a 19 percent decline from 253 in 2024 and the fewest since recordkeeping began in 1910.
Enforcement activity tied to traffic stops has also climbed. Arrests resulting from NYPD traffic stops in Brooklyn rose 174 percent between 2022 and 2025, from 3,982 to 10,911, according to an analysis of police vehicle stop data by the NYCLU. The available material does not establish what share of all NYPD arrests citywide in 2025 originated from a vehicle traffic stop.
Malcolm X Boulevard
The available material does not establish whether transportation officials flagged Malcolm X Boulevard for safety concerns, whether city officials advanced the linked for nearby DeKalb and Lafayette Avenue corridors, or whether DOT recorded 858 traffic injuries there over five years. It also does not establish the speed-limit history for Malcolm X Boulevard or whether any speed-limit reduction was paired with slow zones and recalibrated signal timing across central Brooklyn.
The circumstances of Tuesday's crash remain under investigation, and no additional details about the road conditions or the sequence of events beyond what has been reported have been released. Davis's case is pending in court, and the specific outcome of the criminal charges against him has not yet been determined.
