Car wash worker slammed, killed by hit-&-run SUV driver in Bronx
A Bronx car wash worker was fatally struck Sunday by a hit-and-run SUV driver as he was drying a customer’s vehicle, cops said.
The 55-year-old victim was polishing a black Toyota RAV4 just outside the 24-hour car wash on Webster Ave. near E. 167th St. in Claremont when he was hit about 5:20 a.m., police said.
“I’m in shock. This don’t make sense. He was a good worker, quiet. He has a family in Mexico, two kids,” car wash manager Milton Cardenas told the Daily News. “We’re in shock. This is very bad.”
The worker, dressed in a blue jacket and reflective vest, was wiping down the driver’s side of the Toyota SUV after it pulled out of the car wash into a bus lane.
In a flash, a Ford Escape driver barreling down the bus lane plowed into the worker and the vehicle he was cleaning, sending the Toyota careening into a sign for the car wash, shocking surveillance video tweeted by a 1010 WINS reporter shows.
“The car ran a red light. It was going over 60 mph. There was no traffic at that time of day. The street was empty,” Cardenas said.
“He was wiping a car. He don’t have any chance. He was hit from behind.”
Cops said two women bailed out of the Ford and ran off, leaving the worker to die. Police were still searching for the women Sunday.
The 58-year-old Toyota driver, who suffered minor injuries, was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital in stable condition.
Medics took the car wash worker to Lincoln Hospital, but he could not be saved. Police have not yet released his name.
Last year, the block was the site of another fatal hit-and-run crash.
Rideshare driver Robert Godwin, 45, was driving west on E. 168th St. on June 5 when the driver of a Chevy Traverse zipping north on Webster Ave. slammed into him.
The impact dragged and mangled the victim’s Toyota Camry with TLC plates and left Godwin trapped inside. Witnesses at the time estimated the hit-run driver was going nearly 75 mph, despite it being a 25 mph zone. Godwin died at Lincoln Hospital.
The Chevy driver ditched the damaged SUV and ran off. Police have still not been able to track down the driver.