Woman Killed In Harlem Hit-And-Run, Police Say

HARLEM, NY — A man is facing charges for fatally striking a woman on a dangerous stretch of road in Harlem and fleeing the scene of the collision before crashing his SUV into another car, police said.

Tyrik Cooper, 27, was driving his SUV down on Amsterdam Avenue on Friday night when he struck 26-year-old Erica Imbasciani in the intersection of West 141st Street, police said. Cooper's SUV pinned Imbasciani into a parked car, police said.

EMS rushed Imbasciani to St. Luke's hospital where she was pronounced dead, police said.

The driver fled the scene and came to a stop when it crashed into another SUV waiting at a traffic light in the intersection of Hamilton Place and West 138 Street, police said. Cooper was arrested at the scene of the second crash.

The Bronx resident is facing charges of vehicular manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident, vehicular assault, operating a motor vehicle impaired by drugs, and operating a vehicle with no license, police said.

Safe streets advocates and local elected officials have called on the city to implement a redesign on Amsterdam Avenue between West 110th and 155th Streets. More than 750 people have been injured and three people have been killed in automobile collisions since 2012 on this stretch of Amsterdam Avenue, City Councilman Mark Levine said in a September 2018 press conference.

The city Department of Transportation has been pitching a plan to redesign the stretch since the beginning of 2017 that will add painted bike lanes, left turn bays and pedestrian safety islands to the 45-block street stretch.

"This busy corridor runs through dense commercial and residential neighborhoods, but its wide span encourages drivers to speed. Amsterdam Avenue below 110th Street has been redesigned with pedestrian safety enhancements and protected bike lanes. Uptown communities like Hamilton Heights, where this crash took place, deserve the same safety treatments," Transportation Alternatives Senior Organizer Erwin Figueroa said in a statement in response to Friday's collision.