In the months since Samuel Williams died after his motorbike collided with an unmarked NYPD car that swerved in front of him during a police pursuit, his family has received only one communication from the city: a bill for $3,429.23.
It arrived in a letter addressed to Williams seeking payment for the damages to the police car, 60 days after he was tossed from his motorbike on the University Heights Bridge that connects Manhattan to The Bronx. The 36-year-old dad of a 6-year-old daughter died the day after the collision.
“Our records indicate that your vehicle damaged city property on the above date,” reads the July 2023 letter, which came from the office of the city comptroller, Brad Lander. “City of New York is seeking reimbursement for these damages.”
Williams was an avid street biker who doted on his daughter with weekly shopping trips and visits to the nail salon, according to his mom and sister. His sister, Sha-Sha Prince, said getting the bill from the city so soon after his death was “horrible.”