Cyclist Eugene Schroeder struck and killed by hit-and-run driver in Brooklyn
NEW YORK - Police are looking for the driver who struck and killed a man on a bike in Brooklyn in an apparent hit-and run.
A man was struck and killed while riding his bike Thursday night in East Williamsburg. Now his distraught husband is speaking out.
"He was the best person in the world," John Rappaport said. "I'm never going to be able to kiss him or hug him again, so I don't know what to do."
The grieving husband is desperate for answers.
At around 11:30 p.m. Thursday, 56-year-old Eugen Schroeder was riding his bike just blocks away from his home in East Williamsburg when he was hit by a car. Schroeder was struck near the intersection of Morgan and Johnson Avenues. The driver of the vehicle fled the scene, and no arrests have been made.
Responding officers found Schroeder in the crosswalk with severe head trauma. He was pronounced dead at Elmhurst Hospital.
Rappaport says that Schroeder worked as a DJ at nightclubs, mostly in Manhattan, and because his husband worked nights, Rappaport didn't think anything of his absence until he was woken up by detectives in early morning hours.
"I got the phone call this morning from the detective, and then I was like, wait a minute, this is him," Rappaport said.
Police say Schroeder was in the designated bike lane when the driver took a right turn onto Johnson Avenue, hitting Schroeder, and continuing to an unknown location without stopping.
While the NYPD continues to investigate, local lawmakers are trying to do something to make the intersection safer to pedestrians.
"This death, 100% preventable, is also very timely with kind of the conversations we're having with advocates and businesses and residents in the neighborhood," said City Councilmember Jennifer Gutierrez.
Gutierrez is hosting a workshop on March 30 to discuss keeping the streets in her district safer.
Just last August, a delivery worker on a scooter was killed when he was hit by a truck on Morgan Avenue. In 2011, another man on a bike was killed by a truck in the area.
Citywide, the NYPD says seven bicyclists have been killed in traffic incidents in New York already this year, compared to two in the same time period of 2022.
Anyone with any information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). You can also submit a tip via their website or via DM on Twitter, @NYPDTips. All calls are kept confidential.