Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
City Sanitation Worker Drives Off After Fatally Hitting A Woman In The Bronx
By
Claire Lampen
Published Jan 8, 2019
Modified Jan 8, 2019
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Claire Lampen
Published Jan 8, 2019
Modified Jan 8, 2019
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
A NYC Department of Sanitation truck driver struck and killed a woman crossing a Bronx street early Tuesday morning, pausing only briefly before driving away, a witness told the NY Daily News. No charges have been filed as of this afternoon, but the 33-year-old driver reportedly turned himself in today for questioning.
The NYPD received a report about a "motor vehicle collision involving a pedestrian" at Willis Avenue and East 138th Street just after 6:30 a.m. Upon arrival, officers found a woman "unconscious and unresponsive" with "severe body trauma" lying in the street. EMS pronounced her dead at the scene, and investigators determined that the sanitation worker—driving a 2007 City Sanitation Sand Spreader, according to police—hit the woman while making a left turn onto Willis.
In a statement, a Sanitation Department spokesperson said that the driver in question had been suspended, and that the agency was "cooperating fully with the police investigation," in addition to conducting an investigation of its own. And while a local bodega owner told the News that the particular intersection does see a lot of crashes, garbage truck drivers continue to endanger pedestrians and cyclists on New York streets.
Commercial carting companies, with their poorly maintained fleets and overworked drivers, may be more notorious menaces to public safety, but city-employed drivers have also been responsible for fatalities. In 2009, for example, a city Sanitation worker hit a woman using a wheelchair in a Manhattan bike lane; in 2014, another fatally struck a man in a Crown Heights crosswalk. In August of 2018, a city Sanitation truck driver critically injured a cyclist in Bushwick, and in October 2018, a city Sanitation driver ran into and killed a man while going the wrong way on a one-way street. The driver in that incident was arrested and charged with failing to yield to a pedestrian, driving the wrong way on a one-way street and failing to exercise due care.
Tagged
dsny
hit and run
nypd
sanitation department
sanitation truck
Claire Lampen
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Man shot and killed on Midtown subway platform Saturday afternoon, NYPD says
Police said they're searching for a person of interest.
By
Ryan Kost
and
Elizabeth Kim
Published Oct 17, 2026
Modified Oct 17, 2026 at 4:10 p.m. ET
Have you seen this Yorkie? NYPD looking for adorable pup dognapped from her Queens home
Suspects were driving a Subaru Forester, police said.
By
Ryan Kost
News
Have you seen this Yorkie? NYPD looking for adorable pup dognapped from her Queens home
Suspects were driving a Subaru Forester, police said.
By
Ryan Kost
Being reigning champions is weird for Knicks fans, but we could get used to this.
By
Catalina Gonella
Tompkins Square Park is getting a makeover. Some say it's too much.
By
Willow Higgins
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
By
Rosemary Misdary
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .