NYPD Van Fatally Hits Panhandler In Crown Heights: NYPD, Reports

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — An NYPD van speeding to make a stoplight hit and killed a man on Eastern Parkway on Thursday night, according to police and reports.

The 53-year-old man was standing in the center median of Eastern Parkway near Schenectady Avenue just after 8 p.m. when the marked police van hit him, according to police.

Witnesses told the Daily News that the man regularly pan-handled on the Eastern Parkway corridor and was begging for change when he was hit and dragged 35 feet by the police van.

"The light was about to change and the van was trying to make it,” Dequan Bass told the outlet. “They came through and hit him. Boom! It was like the sound of two cars crashing.”

The 53-year-old was rushed to Kings County Hospital, where he later succumbed to severe body trauma, police said.

The crash, under review by the NYPD's Collision Investigation Squad, has enraged advocates who have long requested upgrades to the notoriously dangerous corridor.

At least five people have been killed and 102 cyclists, 209 pedestrians, and 1,004 motorists were injured on Eastern Parkway between Grand Army Plaza and Ralph Avenue in the last five years, according to Transportation Alternatives. The corridor is among the top 9 percent most dangerous in the city, the organization said.

“We’re heartbroken and outraged after an NYPD officer speeding to beat a light struck and killed a man in Brooklyn last night," Executive Director Danny Harris said. "Despite the clear and ongoing danger at this location, the City of New York has failed to redesign the area to prioritize the safety of our most vulnerable street users."

Thursday's death is the 63rd traffic fatality across the city this year, nearly 40 percent of which have been in Brooklyn, according to TA.