The Arrest

On Tuesday, September 29, the NYPD arrested 72-year-old Brooklyn resident Michael Griffiths and charged him with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and leaving the scene of an accident with injury. He pleaded not guilty and is due back in court on October 27.

What makes the timeline unusual is that Griffiths wasn't hiding. Police located the Ford Explorer's owner within days of the crash and seized the vehicle for examination. Shortly afterward, Griffiths spoke to a reporter about that morning, reportedly saying he "did nothing wrong." The New York Post also reported he has 41 prior driving violations on his record, including 25 for speeding. Why it took eight months to formally charge him hasn't been explained publicly. 

Notably, he's charged only with leaving the scene, not with causing the crash itself, and police haven't said which of the two vehicles he's accused of driving. The second driver, the one behind the sedan that struck Underwood as she lay in the road, has never been identified and remains at large.

Who was Kianna Underwood

Underwood was a series regular during the 10th season of Nickelodeon's "All That" in 2005, a sketch comedy show that helped launch the careers of Kenan Thompson, Nick Cannon, and Amanda Bynes. Before that, she voiced Fuchsia Glover on the Nick Jr. animated series "Little Bill" from 1999 to 2004. She later spent a year performing as Little Inez on the first national tour of the Broadway musical "Hairspray." "All That" was her final credited role.

Why This Case Illustrates a Real Legal Problem

This crash is a clear example of why hit-and-run cases involving multiple vehicles are often so difficult to resolve, and why that difficulty matters beyond this one case. When more than one driver strikes a victim, and both flee, investigators must not only identify each vehicle but also untangle what role each played, and in New York, a charge for leaving the scene is a distinct offense from the underlying act of causing the crash. Griffiths' charges reflect that distinction precisely: prosecutors are holding him accountable for fleeing, a separate legal wrong from whatever caused the initial impact.

For a victim struck by multiple vehicles, this kind of fragmented accountability can complicate both the criminal case and any civil claim. Each driver's conduct, whether they caused the original impact or a secondary one, whether they stopped or fled, carries its own legal weight, and a family seeking justice may need separate findings against each party before the full picture resolves. With the second driver still unidentified eight months later, Underwood's family is left waiting for an accounting that remains only half complete.

The Broader Context

New York City recorded 46 pedestrian fatalities in the first half of 2026 alone, according to the city's Department of Transportation, a toll that has pushed the City Council to take up more than 20 new e-bike and scooter safety proposals in recent weeks. Underwood's death, and the long gap before any accountability followed, sits inside that larger, ongoing reckoning with pedestrian safety on New York City streets.

Our thoughts remain with Kianna Underwood's family and everyone who knew her as she's remembered, eight months on, still waiting for the full truth of what happened that morning.

If you or a loved one has been struck by a hit-and-run driver, especially in a case involving more than one vehicle, the independent attorneys we connect you with can help you understand how liability is determined and what options remain available even when a driver isn't immediately identified.

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