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Truck Driver Fatally Runs Over Grandmother In Washington Heights Crosswalk
By
Scott Heins
Published Feb 11, 2016
Modified Feb 11, 2016
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By
Scott Heins
Published Feb 11, 2016
Modified Feb 11, 2016
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A flatbed truck driver fatally struck a 63-year-old woman in Washington Heights last night, at the intersection of Broadway and 165th Street.
Police say Maria Minchala was crossing Broadway in the crosswalk at 8:50 p.m. when the driver hit her. "I took the turn real slow, three miles an hour," the vehicle's driver, a 42-year-old man, told the Daily News. "I never saw her. I felt a bump. It wasn’t right. I pulled over and went back and saw the lady."
Minchala was rushed to nearby Columbia Presbyterian Hospital where she was declared dead on arrival. The driver remained at the scene. A police spokesperson confirmed that the NYPD's Collision Investigation Squad is currently investigating the crash, and currently no arrests have been made.
Minchala had reportedly been at her church picking up Lenten ashes, and was on her way to work at the time of the deadly crash. "She is a mother of five," her son, Manuel Minchala, told the News. "She has four grandchildren. We are from Ecuador. She brought us here for a better life. She was a good, hard-working woman."
Minchala was killed less than 24 hours after a 16-year-old girl was killed by a hit-and-run driver in Queens.
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Scott Heins
Scott Heins is a freelance photo and video journalist based in New York City, and a frequent contributor to Gothamist + WNYC. His work often centers around labor rights, housing, and policing. In 2018-2019 he traveled to four states while covering a wave of public school teachers strikes, with work featured in The New York Times, The Intercept, Getty Images, Splinter, and Bloomberg Photos. Scott is a dues-paying member of the National Writers Union's Freelance Solidarity Project.
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