A 64-year-old man was fatally struck by a hit-and-run tow truck driver in a Bronx intersection, police said Wednesday.
SM Akhtaruzzaman was crossing Bronxwood Ave. at E. 229th St. in Wakefield when the driver of a 2016 Chevy Silverado with a tow hitch struck him about 12:35 p.m. Monday, cops said.
The Silverado driver, who had a green light, was turning left onto the avenue. Akhtaruzzaman was in the crosswalk and had the walk signal when he was struck, cops said.
Startling surveillance video obtained by ABC Channel 7 Eyewitness News shows the driver running over the victim. The driver appeared to slow down and then sped off, blowing the next red light at E. 230th Street, through another crosswalk with a walk signal.
“The impact was so loud that I thought it was two vehicles hitting each other,” a witness told Eyewitness News. “Once I looked up and I noticed the guy on the floor I was just devastated, to be honest.”
The witness says he hopped into his car and followed the truck up Bronxwood Ave. The witness got a plate number for police but lost sight of the fleeing driver.
News12 Bronx reported that three tickets for speeding in a school zone were issued to the Silverado in just the past six weeks.
The victim’s daughter, Israd Mana, lamented her family’s loss.
“He was such a nice human being,” she told Eyewitness News.
“He was very kind. He was always very respectful. He loved all of us so much. He’s so kind to the point that he’d even feed stray cats. I cannot tell you enough.”