Driver arrested in Bushwick hit-and-run death of 59-year-old man • Brooklyn Paper

A suspected hit-and-run driver was arrested Friday after fatally striking a pedestrian in Bushwick.

Police said the victim, 59-year-old Bushwick resident Marco Tirado Gallardo, was crossing DeKalb Avenue at Wyckoff Street in the crosswalk shortly after 9:30 a.m. when Lennis Escalona Luna, who was driving an 18-foot pickup truck , struck him on the sidewalk as he attempted to turn right onto DeKalb Avenue.

Luna reportedly fled the scene, leaving Gallardo on the street. Paramedics took the victim to Wyckoff Heights Medical Center with “severe trauma,” where he was later pronounced dead.

According to the New York Daily News, police identified the company that owned the truck, prompting the company owner to call Luna back to headquarters hours after the accident, where he was taken into custody. He was charged with failing to yield to a pedestrian and exercising due caution. Under New York state law, both charges carry large fines or potentially short prison sentences.

According to NYC CrashMapper, there have been three crashes with four injuries at the intersection of Wyckoff and DeKalb avenues since 2019. Dozens more were reported at surrounding intersections along busy DeKalb Avenue. In 2020, a 77-year-old woman was fatally struck by a driver on DeKalb Avenue, just a block from the scene of Friday's accident.

Large vehicles – including trucks of all types – pose a particular danger to pedestrians on city streets. Earlier this year, an 83-year-old woman was killed by a dump truck driver in Boerum Hill – less than a year after an 86-year-old pedestrian was killed by one in Williamsburg Dump truck was fatally struck. Dozens of Brooklyn residents have been injured by vans, dump trucks and standard pickup trucks in recent years.

“My deepest condolences go out to the victim’s family,” Bushwick Council member Sandy Nurse said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “Our city must take stronger action to prevent pedestrian deaths and ensure safer streets for everyone.”