Hit-and-Run Driver Kills Senior on Ocean Avenue
A driver hit a 66-year-old woman in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn during Wednesday night’s rainstorm — then kept on going as she died right there on the street, police said.
The victim, whose name was not released, is believed to be the 90th pedestrian killed this year, a double-digit increase over the same time last year. Overall, road fatalities are up by 11 percent this year.
Police gave very few details of Wednesday night’s crash, saying only that the woman was crossing Ocean Avenue at around 5 p.m. when she was struck by the driver, who had been turning from westbound Emmons Avenue onto Ocean.
The driver fled. The victim was taken to Coney Island Hospital, but she was dead by the time she got there. Cops offered no description of the vehicle.
Brooklyn — especially southern Brooklyn — has been a killing field this year, with 36 of the city’s 172 road fatalities, the highest number, occurring in the precincts that comprise Brooklyn South. In all, 55 people have been killed in road violence this year in Brooklyn. Queens is next at 51.
Emmons Avenue is a dangerous strip filled with pedestrians going to nightclubs, bars, pleasure boats and restaurants along the busy waterfront. In just 12 months last year, there were 61 reported crashes on just seven blocks of Emmons Avenue, injuring one cyclist, six pedestrians and five motorists. The intersection where the pedestrian was killed on Wednesday has had 75 reported crashes since January, 2014, injuring five cyclists, nine pedestrians and 10 motorists.
Update: An earlier version of this story had the wrong age of the victim, later identified by police as Sheryl Augustine. The error was due to information provided by the NYPD.
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