A pedestrian was fatally struck by a truck driver near Union Square on Wednesday afternoon.
Police sources said the unidentified woman was hit by an individual, age and gender unknown, operating a tow truck on East 17th Street near Broadway and Union Square West at 1:51 p.m. on July 14, according to police sources.
Officers from the 13th Precinct immediately responded with emergency services, pronouncing the victim dead at the scene.
Witnesses claimed that the woman was crossing the middle of the street, near the Barnes & Noble bookstore, and appeared to be gazing down at her phone when the tow truck driver hit her with the vehicle.
Riham Mohamed works out of Healthy Cart, a juice and smoothie stand parked just outside of Petco, and shared her account of what happened.
“She was just crossing the street and it just happened in a second. Just a second and she was dead immediately,” Mohamed said. “It happened quickly.”
Onlookers watched in horror as they were putting away their Citi Bikes, only to see a body strewn across the street with a white sheet covering her.
“She tried to cross where the trees are and I don’t think she was looking where she was going,” Pedro Velarde said, sharing what he saw, “She had her phone out. Actually, her friend was on the other side over there, and she was crying. I said ‘Oh my God.’ It was bad.”
The tow truck driver stopped the vehicle after the collision. The vehicle remained parked just a few feet away on the corner of East 17th Street by Petco.
The investigation remains ongoing, police said.
