Hit-and-run drivers fatally hit Omar Stewart in Prospect Heights
A driver traveling north on Washington Avenue hit 61-year-old Omar Stewart near Dean Street just after 2:14 a.m., and press accounts citing police said a second driver then hit him and both drivers fled.
What We Know
The crash happened at about 2:14 a.m. on July 10, 2022, at Washington Avenue and Dean Street in Brooklyn. City crash data recorded one pedestrian death and driver inattention or distraction as a contributing factor. Police accounts reported by the New York Post and Daily News said two drivers hit Omar Stewart and fled; the Daily News later reported police released video of a white Toyota RAV4 driver and a black four-door SUV driver involved in the crash. Press accounts differ on whether Stewart was crossing Washington Avenue or stepping into a cab when the first driver hit him.
Two drivers fled after hitting a pedestrian
The official record places the fatal crash at Washington Avenue and Dean Street in Brooklyn at 2:14 a.m. on July 10, 2022, and records one pedestrian killed. The New York Post, citing police, reported that a northbound driver hit a 61-year-old man and that a second driver traveling south then hit him while he was in the street; both drivers fled.
The Daily News identified the man as Omar Stewart and reported that medics took him to NewYork-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital with a massive head injury, where he died.
Omar Stewart was heading home before the crash
The Daily News reported that Stewart had just spoken with his fiancée, Kecia Edey, on FaceTime and was on his way home to Bedford-Stuyvesant from a block party. The paper reported that he was a father of three and worked as a tour bus driver.
Edey told the Daily News, “Someone could have stopped and he could have been living today.”
Reports differed on the vehicle descriptions
The official crash record lists a sedan and records both involved drivers as going straight ahead, one northbound and one southbound, with driver inattention or distraction recorded as a contributing factor.
Initial New York Post coverage said police had no description of either vehicle. The Daily News first described the northbound driver as an SUV driver, and later reported that police released footage of a white Toyota RAV4 driver and a black four-door SUV driver. According to that later report, police said the RAV4 had after-market rims, did not appear to have a license plate, and had visible front-end damage.
Police sought the drivers after releasing footage
About a month after the crash, the Daily News reported that the NYPD released surveillance footage and asked the public for help identifying and finding the drivers. The report said it was not clear whether the second driver knew someone had been hit.
Where
Washington Ave & Dean St, Brooklyn