A hit-and-run driver was arrested in Queens on Tuesday, after allegedly fleeing the scene after fatally striking a homeless man on his way to work.
The 65-year-old victim was struck at the intersection Rockaway and Brookville Boulevards near JFK Airport at around 4 a.m. on Tuesday, police said. The man, known as "Pops," was staying at a nearby city-run homeless shelter inside a Holiday Inn, according to the Daily News.
Residents of the shelter said Pops was catching a bus to work when he was run over by the driver of a silver Toyota Camry. “We heard a car speeding like ‘zoooom!’," one recalled. “He was beat up, he was purple already...just lying on the ground until the police came with a blanket and put it over him.”
Pops, whose identity is being withheld pending family notification, was remembered by friends as a hardworking senior who, like thousands of New Yorkers, lived in a shelter despite earning income from a job. His friends said he commuted three hours to work in Brooklyn each day.
Police have identified the driver as Kevin Dennard, a 35-year-old Queens resident. He fled the scene after the crash, but was spotted hours later by police in Long Island, authorities said. Dennard was charged with leaving the scene of an accident, and is being held on $75,000 bond.
The driver reportedly told police that he had a few beers prior to the crash, and believed he had hit a piece of luggage. He has two previous convictions for drunk driving, in 2006 and 2013, according to the Post.
The victim is at least the 83rd pedestrian to die on city streets this year. Traffic fatalities citywide have continued to surge, and are currently 17 percent higher than at this point in 2018, according to NYPD data.
