A 46-year-old man lying in the roadway on Pitkin Avenue in East New York was struck and killed by a driver who took off without stopping early Sunday, and police are still searching for whoever was behind the wheel. The collision happened around 1 a.m. near Chestnut Street, leaving investigators with more questions than answers about how the man ended up in the street in the first place.
According to New York Daily News, police said the driver was heading east on Pitkin Avenue when the car struck the victim as he lay in the road near the intersection with Chestnut Street. Medics rushed him to Brookdale University Hospital, where he later died. His name had not been released as of the paper's report.
Driver's Awareness Still Unclear
Investigators said they have not determined whether the driver realized someone had been hit, and they are still trying to piece together how the victim came to be lying in the roadway before the crash, the outlet's report notes. No vehicle description, suspect information, or request for tips had surfaced in the reporting as of Sunday.
The case lands in a borough that has already seen a string of unresolved or recently resolved hit-and-run cases this month. Just days earlier, a 22-year-old man was arrested after a crash on Ocean Parkway that killed a Lyft driver, a case that shows how quickly these investigations can — and sometimes can't — be closed.
Pattern of Brooklyn Hit-and-Runs
Per the same account, police said Sobirjon Abdurazakov was speeding south on Ocean Parkway in a 2026 Audi A5 when he rear-ended a 2023 Toyota Camry near Avenue S in Midwood around 12:10 a.m. on October 5. The crash killed 62-year-old Lyft driver Yaya Dia, who was taken to Maimonides Medical Center, where he died. Abdurazakov allegedly pulled the license plates off his wrecked Audi and fled on foot, leaving the car behind before he was arrested on October 13.
East New York in particular has seen more than one hit-and-run this year. A 6-year-old boy was struck by a vehicle at Euclid Avenue and Linden Boulevard around 10:30 p.m. on a Thursday, according to ABC7 New York. That vehicle also left the scene, and the boy was taken to a hospital in stable condition.
What New York Law Says About Fleeing
New York's Vehicle and Traffic Law addresses exactly this kind of flight. Under New York State Senate statute Section 600, leaving the scene of a crash that results in death is a class D felony, punishable by a fine of not less than $2,000 nor more than $5,000 in addition to any other penalties the law allows. That provision governs the broader legal landscape for fleeing drivers, though it is unclear whether or how it might apply once a driver is identified in this case.
City data has pointed to a broader decline in pedestrian deaths in recent years, though the scope and timeframe of that trend has not been independently confirmed. For now, the East New York case remains open, with investigators continuing to work to identify the driver and determine exactly what happened on Pitkin Avenue before the fatal collision.
