Hit-and-Run Driver Kills Manhattan Man in Brooklyn

A 38-year-old Manhattan man who was struck by a hit-and-run late on Friday night in Brooklyn died on Monday, police said.

Oscar Holford was crossing Shepard Avenue when he was struck by the driver of a white vehicle that was traveling west on Pitkin Avenue on the edge of East New York, police said. The driver did not remain on the scene, but EMTs took Holford, who lived in Harlem, to Brookdale Hospital, where he died on Monday.

The investigation is ongoing, police said.

The 75th Precinct, a relatively small zone that comprises the site of the fatal crash, is one of the most dangerous places to be a pedestrian. In 2019*, there were 5,912 reported crashes (roughly 16 per day!), injuring 104 cyclists, 273 pedestrians and 1,725 motorists, killing one cyclist, four pedestrians and three motorists.

In just the 1.5-mile stretch of Pitkin Avenue between Pennsylvania Avenue and South Conduit Boulevard, there were 184 reported crashes in 2019, injuring 14 cyclists, three pedestrians and 67 motorists.

* Streetsblog is using 2019 figures as a benchmark because of the widely different driving patterns and speeds during most of 2020,