An 80-year-old woman was fatally struck Friday while walking along a Brooklyn sidewalk after the driver of a luxury SUV jumped the curb, police said.
The deadly East Flatbush crash happened shortly before 1:30 p.m., when a 63-year-old motorist turned right from Rutland Road onto East 92nd Street, according to the NYPD.
Witness Smiley Adams said he heard a “loud bang” followed by “tires screeching” before seeing the vehicle mount the sidewalk and trap the woman beneath it. “A car came up on the sidewalk and scooped [her] underneath the car and just dragged her,” he recalled.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Adams said of the horrifying scene. “It didn’t look like real life. It looked like a movie … I’ve never seen nothing like that happen in real life.”
Several bystanders ran toward the crash site moments after the impact, but witnesses said the situation was so severe there was “nothing you could really do.”
The woman, who another witness said appeared to be pinned against the wall of a nearby business, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Photos from the Brooklyn crash scene showed a damaged white Lexus RX 350 stopped across the sidewalk.
Debris littered the area, including a smashed bumper, chunks of concrete and splintered remains from a torn-up tree scattered across the pavement.
The tragedy happened so fast that the victim had no time to escape, Adams said, saying he didn’t know if the crash was an “accident.”
It’s not clear how the Lexus ended up on the sidewalk, but the intersection is notorious among locals for being dangerous.
“It could be anyone. They come around this corner fast a lot. They try to catch the light, make the right turn and end up on the sidewalk. It’s very scary,” said Kim, who declined to give her last name.
The driver, 63, remained at the scene of the accident.
There have been no arrests and an investigation is ongoing.
