By The Diary
Sep 24, 2024, 12:34 PM EDT
A 64-year-old man was killed when a tow truck fled the scene in broad daylight in the Bronx (NYC).
Police are investigating the crash, which happened in a school zone at Bronxwood Avenue and East 229th Street shortly after 12:30 p.m. Monday.
Police said the man, later identified as SM Akhtaruzzeman, was walking in the eastbound crosswalk at E. 229th St when he was struck by a black Chevy Silverado pickup truck with a trailer hitch traveling north on Bronxwood Av.
A surveillance video obtained by ABC News captured the tow truck turning onto Bronxwood Av. from E. 229th St., hitting the victim and continuing straight ahead, first slowing down and then accelerating as it ran the next red light at E. 230th St., over another crosswalk.
“The impact was so strong that I thought it was two vehicles crashing into each other,” said one eyewitness. “And once I looked up, I saw the guy on the ground. I was devastated, to be honest.”
The witness said he got into his car and followed the truck down Bronxwood Av. He noted a license plate number, but lost sight of the fleeing driver.
Meanwhile, neighbors were doing everything they could to help the victim on the ground. “He didn’t seem to be moving. And I saw a lot of people gathered,” Kwame Nkrumah said. Akhtaruzzeman was pronounced dead at Jacobi Hospital less than an hour later. He lived just a block away with his wife and one of his daughters.
Neighbors are also wondering who could have driven like that at noon right in front of a school, The Bronxwood Preparatory Academy. No arrests have been made and no suspects have been identified. Anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) and in Spanish 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). They can also be reached via the website crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or by text to 274637 (CRIMES), followed by TIP577. All communications are strictly confidential.
Authorities remind that there is zero tolerance for drivers who drive at excessive speed and/or under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Cyclists and motorcyclists are also frequent protagonists of road accidents, as victims and perpetrators, by riding on sidewalks, disregarding traffic lights and even the direction of the streets.
In May, a 71-year-old Puerto Rican grandmother died after being hit by a driver who was fleeing from the police in Brooklyn (NYC) and left the scene by getting on the subway. Ironically, just hours before, Governor Kathy Hochul had signed the so-called Sammy’s Law, which reduces the speed limit to 20 mph and even 10 mph on some streets in the five boroughs of NYC to protect pedestrians. So far this year, more than 40 people have been killed in car accidents in the city.
In December, Gov. Hochul signed “Angelica’s Law,” designed to keep drivers with prior suspensions off the road by charging repeat offenders who operate vehicles after committing five or more traffic violations that resulted in suspensions or revocations with felonies.
- 2024 is the deadliest year on New York’s asphalt since Vision Zero was created to prevent deaths