Michael Griffiths (Brooklyn driver)
Introduction
Michael Griffiths is a 72-year-old Brooklyn resident who was arrested on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, and charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and leaving the scene of an accident with injury in connection with the January 16 hit-and-run death of Kianna Underwood, a 33-year-old former Nickelodeon child star, in Brownsville. The arrest came more than eight months after the crash, and months after Griffiths himself told a reporter he had done “nothing wrong”. He is not Michael Griffiths, the British barrister disbarred in June 2026, who is the subject of a separate entry on this site.
Background Information
Underwood was struck around 6:45 a.m. on January 16, 2026, near Pitkin Avenue in Brownsville. According to the NYPD’s account, she was crossing Pitkin Avenue in a marked crosswalk against the pedestrian signal when a black 2021 Ford Explorer traveling westbound crossed the double yellow line to pass a vehicle that was starting a right turn onto Mother Gaston Boulevard, and hit her. As she lay in the road, police say a second, black-and-gray sedan ran over her and dragged her roughly two blocks; she was found near Pitkin Avenue and Osborn Street and pronounced dead at the scene. Neither driver stopped.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Allegations. Griffiths has been charged but not tried. The account below is drawn from NYPD statements and press reporting, and he is presumed innocent of the charges unless and until proven guilty in court.
The NYPD said Griffiths was arrested Tuesday morning and charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and leaving the scene of an accident with injury. News 12 reported the second count in its New York penal-law form, “leaving the scene of an accident with injury-prior”, and said investigators identified the Explorer as driven by Griffiths at the time of the crash.
Griffiths had spoken publicly about the crash in late January, when he was not charged. He told the New York Daily News he recalled hitting “something” when his Explorer struck Underwood, but insisted, “I did nothing wrong.” He said he pulled over after the impact, “saw another car hit the person and started dragging the person”, and then left the scene to take his medication, saying he felt he was going to faint when the incident happened. At that time he acknowledged refusing to speak with investigators and referring them to his attorney, and said police had impounded his car, which city records showed had been ticketed for 41 violations, including 25 for speeding. Surveillance footage of the crash, obtained and published by the New York Post, showed the SUV crossing into the opposite lane before striking Underwood and sending her across the intersection.
Underwood, the victim at the center of the case, appeared in seven episodes of Nickelodeon’s sketch comedy “All That” during its tenth and final season in 2005 — her last credited role — and voiced Fuchsia Glover on “Little Bill” from 1999 to 2004. Police and reporters said she had struggled with homelessness in the years before her death and was a frequent presence on the Brownsville streets where she died.
Public Reaction and Consequences
The case drew sustained attention in New York because of the victim’s history as a child star and the brutality of the episode — a pedestrian struck, run over and dragged two blocks by a driver who kept going. An employee at a store near the crash scene told CBS News New York he had occasionally given Underwood money and food, and former “All That” cast member Angelique Bates said she had raised concerns about Underwood’s situation back in 2023, posting an Instagram video saying she needed help. Griffiths’ January insistence that he had done “nothing wrong” — while acknowledging he left to take his medication after the impact — drew notice when it was published, and the eight-month gap between the crash and any arrest became part of the story when police finally acted.
Current Status
Griffiths was taken into custody on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, per News 12, and faces the two leaving-the-scene charges; a court appearance, plea and defense representation had not been reported in the fetched record at publication. The charges are unadjudicated, and no conviction has been entered against him. The driver of the second vehicle — the sedan police say dragged Underwood to her death — had not been publicly identified or reported arrested in the fetched coverage.
Impact on Their Career/Life
The arrest transformed Griffiths from an unnamed, uncharged motorist who told a reporter he had done nothing wrong into a criminally charged defendant in one of the year’s most publicized Brooklyn deaths, eight months after the crash. For Underwood’s family and former castmates, it closed a long wait for action in a case that had become a symbol of both a hit-and-run and the homelessness she battled after her child-acting career ended. The case against the second, still-unidentified driver remains open.
Sources
- source — “Driver, 72, arrested in NYC hit-and-run that killed ex-Nickelodeon star Kianna Underwood,” NY Post, September 30, 2026
- source — “Driver who killed Nickelodeon star Kianna Underwood recalls hitting ‘something’ — but insists he did ’nothing wrong’,” NY Post, January 22, 2026
- source — “Arrest made in Brooklyn hit-and-run death of former Nickelodeon star Kianna Underwood,” ABC7 Eyewitness News, September 30, 2026
- source — “Suspect in hit-and-run death of former Nickelodeon actress Kianna Underwood arrested,” CBS News New York, September 2026
- source — “Driver arrested in connection with hit-and-run that killed former Nickelodeon star,” News 12 Brooklyn, September 30, 2026