Cops Hunting Hit-and-Run Driver in Fatal Bay Ridge Crash
A Bay Ridge senior who was run down and left for dead by a reckless driver has died — and cops are looking for the hit-and-run fiend who killed him.
According to the NYPD, Kamel Mahmoud was walking across Bay Ridge Parkway at around 8 p.m. on Feb. 15 — and had the light in his favor and was in the crosswalk — when the driver of a light-colored vehicle, who had been driving northbound on Sixth Avenue, turned left directly into the pedestrian.
“After striking the pedestrian, the vehicle continued westbound on Bay Ridge Parkway, leaving the location,” the NYPD said in a statement. The agency described the car as “possibly a Mercedes Benz sedan.”
Meanwhile, EMTs arrived to find Mahmoud with head trauma. He was taken to NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn, where he died five days later.
Citywide, the number of collisions in the first eight weeks of this year are dramatically (and obviously) down compared to the same period last year (which was before the COVID pandemic reduced driving by double-digit percentages), but, oddly, the number of injuries from crashes is up nearly 10 percent in the 68th Precinct of Bay Ridge, according to the NYPD’s own stats.
And injuries were up nearly 70 percent in February, compared to February, 2020. Fifty nine people were injured inside or outside cars in February in Bay Ridge, compared to 35 last February.
No other precinct is experiencing such an increase in injuries from crashes, the NYPD stats show.
Citywide, fatalities are way down this year, compared to the same period last year, again likely as a result of still-depressed vehicle miles traveled in the city.
According to the Department of Transportation, through March 1, 24 people have died on NYC roads, including eight motorists, 14 pedestrians, one cyclist and one “other motorized.” Last year through March 1, those numbers were 12 motorists, 23 pedestrians and one cyclist and two motorcyclists for a total of 38. That’s a decline of 42 percent.
The drop in pedestrian deaths — from 34 to 14 this year — is a decline of nearly 60 percent.
Read More:
Streetsblog has migrated to a new comment system. New commenters can register directly in the comments section of any article. Returning commenters: your previous comments and display name have been preserved, but you'll need to reclaim your account by clicking "Forgot your password?" on the sign-in form, entering your email, and following the verification link to set a new password — this is required because passwords could not be carried over during the migration. For questions, contact tips@streetsblog.org.
