The driver of a pick-up truck collided with another vehicle and went hurtling through a Dyker Heights bus stop where it hit an elderly man on Sept. 17.
Authorities reported that at 11:30 am, a truck headed toward Bensonhurst on 75th Street slammed into a minivan at the corner of 13th Avenue. The force of the crash sent the truck careening into the bus enclosure, where 71-year-old James McCloskey sat waiting for the B4.
Witnesses described a catastrophic scene, with the truck plowing all the way through the structure, shattering the plate-glass and ripping the bench off its mounting, before finally coming to rest on the sidewalk well past the curb, according to Sunny Raza, the manager of nearby 13th Avenue Bagels.
“It looked like a mess,” said the shaken bagel vendor.
Other local business owners agreed, describing the smash-up as the worst ever to hit the intersection.
“We’ve had minor ones, but no big deal like this one,” said Maria Fusaro, co-owner of Frank’s Pizza, another staple at the corner.
Authorities reported that McCloskey was taken to Lutheran Medical Center in critical condition but was pronounced dead shortly thereafter. The drivers of the truck and minivan both received minor injuries.
The investigation is ongoing, according to police, but said the driver of the truck made no attempt to flee the scene, and there was as yet no evidence of wrongdoing.
