A 54-year-old man is fighting for his life after a driver struck him and sped away early Sunday morning near 184th Street and Jamaica Avenue in Queens. The man was crossing Jamaica Avenue from the northwest to the southwest corner when he was hit around 1:51 a.m., according to police sources. He was left with severe trauma to his head and body, and the driver never stopped.
The driver, behind the wheel of a gray Ford Crown Victoria traveling eastbound, struck the pedestrian and then fled further eastbound on Jamaica Avenue without remaining at the scene, according to police sources cited by amNewYork. EMS rushed the man to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he remains in critical condition. As of the latest report, no arrests had been made, and the NYPD Highway District Investigation Squad continues to investigate.
A Dangerous Stretch of Jamaica Avenue
This is not the first hit-and-run to strike a pedestrian along this corridor in recent months. On Aug. 16, a 37-year-old man was critically injured near Jamaica Avenue and 186th Street at about 3:10 a.m. after he was struck while walking southbound, according to Patch. That victim was also taken to Jamaica Hospital, and the driver in that case did not remain at the scene either.
In March, a 57-year-old woman was killed in broad daylight while crossing Jamaica Avenue near Parsons Boulevard outside a marked crosswalk, struck by a westbound 2001 Lincoln LS whose driver fled toward the Van Wyck Expressway, according to QNS. She was pronounced dead at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center.
Prior Cases Show Mixed Outcomes
Not every Queens hit-and-run ends without consequence. Queens prosecutors say Darius Adams was arraigned on an indictment charging him with manslaughter, assault, leaving the scene and other crimes in connection with the March 11 Jamaica Avenue fatality, per the Queens District Attorney's Office. The office notes Adams faces more than 15 years in prison if convicted, though he is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Other cases have gone unresolved for longer stretches. A 27-year-old man struck by a dark-colored minivan at 170th Street and Hillside Avenue in October 2025 died ten days after the crash, QNS reported. And police have separately searched for a white Honda sedan, possibly missing a side-view mirror, in connection with the death of a 35-year-old pedestrian crossing Woodhaven Boulevard near Jamaica Avenue, according to a report from PIX11.
A Known Hotspot for Pedestrian Danger
The Jamaica corridor has long been flagged as one of the borough's most hazardous for people on foot. A New York City Department of Transportation safety plan noted that the highest concentration of crashes in Queens occurs around the dense town centers of Flushing, Jamaica and Elmhurst, and found that senior citizens made up just 13% of the borough's population but accounted for 35% of its pedestrian fatalities.
Anyone with information on Sunday's crash is urged to contact investigators. The case remains open, with the NYPD Highway District Investigation Squad continuing to seek the driver of the gray Crown Victoria who fled the scene.
