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Teen Killed, 4 Other Pedestrians Injured When Van Jumps Curb In Queens
By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 11, 2013
Modified Mar 11, 2013
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ABC 7
By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 11, 2013
Modified Mar 11, 2013
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The driver of a Dodge minivan "apparently lost control and mounted the sidewalk" at 30th Street and Thompson Avenue in Long Island City this morning, running over at least five pedestrians, according to the NYPD press office. The crash occurred shortly after 10:30 a.m. near LaGuardia Community College, leaving a 16-year-old boy dead and four other pedestrians injured.
The NYPD has identified the fatally injured teen as Drudak Tenzin. He was pronounced DOA at Elmhurst General Hospital, where the four other pedestrians are listed in stable condition. NY1 reports that all four were students at La Guardia Community College (but Tenzin was not a student there).
The cause of the crash is still unclear. Police at the scene tell ABC 7 that three cars collided, sending the minivan careening onto the sidewalk, hitting the pedestrians and then slamming into a tree. "He lost control of the car, he was really trying to stop," said one witness. No arrests have been made, but the NYPD says the investigation is ongoing.
The fatality comes on the same day that news broke about significant changes to the NYPD's investigation of motor vehicle crashes. Among the changes, the NYPD has started referring to these incidents as "crashes," as opposed to "accidents," which imply an assumption that no one was at fault. (Interestingly, the NYPD press release about this crash still refers to it as an "accident.")
Earlier this morning a 20-year-old motorist was killed when he crashed his Honda into the back of an MTA bus in Cypress Hills.
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long island city
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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