SUNSET PARK, Brooklyn (PIX11) — A man is in police custody after two people were killed in a hit-and-run in Brooklyn early Friday morning, sources said.
The BMW driver was heading south on Third Avenue when he hit two men crossing 52nd Street in Sunset Park at around 4:30 a.m., according to the NYPD.
Surveillance video obtained by PIX11 News showed a dark-colored sedan the moment the car slammed into the pedestrians, taking them out in an instant. The victims, who have not yet been identified, died at the scene.
The charges against the driver were pending, police said.
Before this incident, there have been 96 traffic fatalities this year, compared to 135 in the same period of 2024, according to NYPD data. Last week, the city released Vision Zero stats showing a 19% drop in pedestrian deaths over the first six months of the year.
State Sen. Stephen Chan, who represents the district, said it doesn’t feel safer at all.
“I don’t know where they’re getting their numbers from, maybe by luck they had less fatalities,” he said.
Since 2018, 80 people have been killed or seriously injured along the same two-mile stretch of Third Avenue, according to Transportation Alternatives.
Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
Mira Wassef is a digital reporter who has covered news and sports in the NYC area for more than a decade. She has been with PIX11 News for two years. See more of her work here.
