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[Update] Three Year Old Boy In Stroller Killed, Mother Injured By Driver In East Harlem
By
Ben Yakas
Published Dec 9, 2019
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Published Dec 9, 2019
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A three-year-old boy was fatally struck by a driver while crossing a street with his mother in East Harlem today. [Update Below]
Police say the incident happened around 9:35 a.m. today at the intersection of East 116th Street and First Avenue. The child, who has been identified as Bertin Dejesus, was in his stroller being pushed by his 25-year-old mother while they crossed eastbound on First Avenue in the crosswalk. A 59-year-old driver in a blue Ford F-250 was traveling eastbound on East 116th Street when he made a left turn onto First Avenue and struck the stroller and child.
Dejesus was pronounced dead at Metropolitan Hospital; his mother was treated for minor injuries there as well.
“I heard the lady crying and screaming," witness Nathen Alahami, who works at nearby Family Deli and Grill and was unloading a truck when he saw the crash, told the Daily News. “The ambulance came and the cops came and ran with them into the ambulance...There was a lot of blood. She was holding the baby.” Marisol Medina, who works at the neighborhood Dunkin’ Donuts and had seen the mother and child moments before the incident, gave a similar account to the Post.
Police add that the driver, whose name has not been released, stayed at the scene and has been taken into custody; charges against him are pending. A witness said the driver initially kept going then stopped when someone flagged him down.
The Ford F-250 involved in the incident had received two camera-issued speeding tickets since September, according to How’s My Driving.
According to the Department of Transportation, there have been 199 traffic fatalities citywide so far in 2019 up to December 3rd—that number includes 102 pedestrians, 27 cyclists, 25 motorcyclists, and 45 motor vehicle occupants. This number leaves out at least two recent deaths in the past week, including today's and the pedestrian fatally struck by an elderly driver in Downtown Brooklyn last week.
Update: Police say that the driver, who has now been identified as 59-year-old Jaime Sabogal, has been charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to exercise due care.
Transportation Alternatives executive director Danny Harris said in a statement: "On behalf of Transportation Alternatives and Families for Safe Streets, we send our heartfelt condolences to the family of Bertin DeJesus, the three year-old killed in his stroller by the driver of a Ford F-250 pickup truck. Bertin is the sixth child to be killed on New York City streets in 2019 and represents the 203rd traffic fatality this year, matching the total killed in all of 2018."
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Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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