Coulda killed her
Girl, 8, hit in head by plank tossed out Qns. window
An 8-year-old girl was struck in the head by a piece of wood that a careless construction worker tossed from a fourth-story window in Queens on Friday, authorities said.
Tatiana Devia was walking by the Jackson Heights site on 35th Avenue near 84th Street at about 9:30 a.m. when she was suddenly hit by the large plank — which was about the size of a door, according to police and the girl’s mother, Olga Piedrahita, 29.
“There [were] no ropes, no sign of construction sites, no warning, no nothing,” Piedrahita said. “My husband, of course, he went crazy. He went rushing to my daughter. She was gushing blood from her head.”
Tatiana, whom cops described as conscious and alert, was taken to New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center.
She needed three staples on her head, Piedrahita said.
On the way to the hospital, the frightened girl repeated the same question, her mom said.
“All she kept saying in the ambulance was, ‘Why would he throw that at me?’ ” Piedrahita said.
Piedrahita claimed that the construction workers fled after the incident — even though the worker who threw the plank apparently saw what had happened.
“He made eye contact with my husband,” she said. “It’s not like he didn’t see us or anything.”
The city Department of Buildings issued a stop-work order after the accident, citing “debris falling from the fourth-floor construction.”
Complaints filed Friday with the DOB alleged that laborers were throwing refuse from the building’s windows and working without safety netting.
A total of 13 complaints have been lodged against the building over the past two years, records show.
Piedrahita said her husband, 3year-old son Diego and Tatiana were heading to the park when the plank hit the girl.
Neither Tatiana nor Diego, who was “crying hysterically,” wants to return to the area, she said.
“I hope my daughter doesn’t have any future side effects from all of this,” Piedrahita said. “I hope no other mother has to go through this or anybody.”