Woman fatally struck in Brooklyn by driver of unmarked police van
Nov 20, 2024
A woman was fatally struck by an unmarked police van on a Brooklyn street Wednesday evening, authorities said.
Police responded to a 911 call around 6:10 p.m.near Riverdale Ave. and Pennsylvania Ave. in East New York, where cops found a woman with injuries to the head.
The woman, who is believed to have been homeless, was lying in the street when she was hit by a NYPD warrant squad vehicle — a black Toyota Sienna — traveling northbound on Pennsylvania Ave., sources and cops said. A plastic basket of clothing and paper bag of goods were left on the west side of Pennsylvania Ave.
Kerry Burke/New York Daily NewsThe scene where an unmarked warrant squad van fatally struck a woman lying on Pennsylvania Ave. and Riverdale Ave. in Brooklyn on Nov. 20, 2024. (Kerry Burke/New York Daily News)
A Department of Homeless Services worker who witnessed the incident — and shared video with the Daily News — said the vehicle was “going real fast” with no lights or sirens.
“She passed right out in the street, she fell and rolled over and that’s when the car hit her,” DHS worker Shawn Carter told The News. “You can tell they were cops because there was NYPD on the back of their jackets when they jumped out.”
“You can see the blood from her head— it flew from one side to the other side of the street,” Carter added. “When they hit her, she spun around 360.”
Emergency Medical Services transported the woman to Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center, but she could not be saved.
Kerry Burke/New York Daily NewsThe scene where an unmarked police minivan struck and killed a woman lying on Pennsylvania Ave. and Riverdale Ave. in Brooklyn on Nov. 20, 2024. (Kerry Burke/New York Daily News)
The operator of the Toyota remained at the scene. There were no arrests.