Van Driver Denies Being Drunk When he Hit ant Brooklyn Mom

The man accused of hitting a pregnant Brooklyn mom in midtown with his car took the witness stand claiming he tried to help her - and he denied he was drunk.

"I tried to bring the person out from under the vehicle, then I realized there was nothing left of her," Keston Brown said Thursday of  Ms. Ysemny Ramos  who was headed home  when she was killed on E. 37th St.

It wasn't the three beers and the shot of cognac he had, but the malfunctioning van he drove as a grocery chain mechanic that killed Ramos, Brown said.

When the 1989 Econoline van suddenly veered to the right, he started to pull over and the vehicle "cut out," Brown said under questioning by his lawyer, Patrick Watts.

Prosecutors argued that Brown was drunk and hit the accelerator, not the brakes, before striking Ms. Ramos. He faces up to 25-years in jail if convicted of aggravated vehicular homicide.