NEW YORK – A man crossing an intersection in Brooklyn early Thursday was struck by a driver who ran a red light, killing the man.
Police said they are still looking for the driver who struck Felix Mendez, a 49-year-old Brooklyn man who was trying to cross the crosswalk around 3 a.m. at the intersection of Bedford avenues and Lafayette in Bed-Stuy.
Surveillance video capturing the fatal incident is difficult to watch (the video above stops before the moment of impact). It shows Mendez starting to cross the street when he has his cross signal, and then a light-colored SUV enters the scene at a high rate of speed.
The driver darts into the intersection while the light is still red and sends the man flying. According to the video, the man is lying on the hood of the car on the other side of the intersection before being thrown to the ground. The driver continues down the street.
Police said Mendez suffered trauma to the head and body. Doctors rushed to the scene and took him to a nearby hospital, but he did not survive his injuries.
“It’s shocking to hear something like that,” said Paul Johnson.
Bed-Stuy residents, like Johnson, who lives just steps away, woke up to the news.
“Hopefully the cameras catch them, hopefully the cameras have a license plate or something so that this person can be held accountable for what he did,” Johnson said.
As of Friday afternoon, police had not announced an arrest or released details about a possible description of the suspect.
The department’s online database shows that pedestrian deaths have increased this year. Deaths from the beginning of the year to date (October 6) amount to 84, a much higher figure than last year, which was 70.
2024-10-12 01:50:00
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