Bicyclist Killed In East Harlem Hit-And-Run Crash
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police are investigating a hit-and-run crash that they say killed a 42-year-old bicyclist Wednesday night in East Harlem.
It happened around 11:30 p.m. on East 129th Street.
Police say a 2002 Mercedes sedan was heading west on East 129th Street when it hit multiple construction barriers before striking the bicyclist.
The impact sent the victim onto the hood of the car and into the windshield before being hurled to the ground, police said.
Witnesses say the Mercedes was traveling so fast, there was little time to react.
"'Boom' and then he was dead, that's it," said witness Daniel Piunoff.
"I looked and saw a man laying and I said, 'oh my gosh,'" another witness said. "I did not know he died. He almost hit me."
The Mercedes then fled, making a left on Madison Avenue against traffic and tried to turn onto East 128th Street when it hit another car stopped at a red light, police said.
"It was certainly not expected," said a man in the other car, who did not want to be identified. "They were coming the wrong way on Madison Avenue."
The three occupants of the Mercedes then fled on foot, the driver heading west on 128th Street and two passengers going north on Madison, police said.
"Everyone in the Mercedes got out of the car and ran different directions," the man said.
The bicyclist was found lying on the roadway and was pronounced dead at the scene. The two people in the second car were not injured.
Police say a short time before the incident, New York state court officers saw the Mercedes run a red light just north of the Third Avenue Bridge in the Bronx, CBS2's Janelle Burrell reported.
With their lights flashing, the court officers gave chase, but police said they abandoned their pursuit at the Third Avenue Bridge and were not chasing the Mercedes when it hit the bicyclist, 1010 WINS' John Montone reported.
"It was certainly not expected. They were coming the wrong way on Madison Ave," a man, who asked to remain unidentified, said.
The man said he was stopped at a red light when the Mercedes came barreling towards him, and hit his car, before the driver and his passengers abandoned the Mercedes.
The three people who were inside the Mercedes remain at large.