Van Driver Charged After Construction Flagger Killed on Myrtle
Police charged Clyde Mercury, 36, after a driver in a Ford Transit hit and killed 37-year-old construction flagger Luis Mario Sangurima near Myrtle Avenue and Walworth Street on Oct. 29, 2024.
What We Know
At about 1:53 p.m. on Oct. 29, 2024, a driver hit a 37-year-old pedestrian who was working in the roadway at Myrtle Avenue and Walworth Street in Brooklyn, according to the city crash record. News reports identified the victim as Luis Mario Sangurima, a construction flagger directing traffic in reflective gear behind cones. Police told the Daily News that Clyde Mercury, driving an Enterprise rental van, tried to pass a slow-moving box truck near the work zone and hit Sangurima; ABC7 described the vehicle as a Ford Transit and reported that Mercury was charged. Records and reports differ on travel direction and vehicle type: ABC7 reported westbound, while the Daily News and city vehicle entries list the passing driver eastbound.
A flagger was working beside a construction zone
The city crash record says a 37-year-old male pedestrian was killed while working in the roadway at Myrtle Avenue and Walworth Street in Brooklyn at 1:53 p.m. on Oct. 29, 2024. The same record lists one injured motorist.
News reports identified the pedestrian as Luis Mario Sangurima, a construction flagger. ABC7 reported that surveillance video showed him in reflective gear, standing behind traffic cones and holding a flag to direct traffic away from a construction site. The Daily News reported that police said a driver tried to pass a slow-moving box truck near the work zone and hit him.
The sources do not line up on every vehicle detail. ABC7 reported that police described a Ford Transit traveling westbound; the Daily News described an Enterprise rental van traveling eastbound. City vehicle entries list a Ford pickup-type vehicle traveling east and passing, along with an eastbound box truck, a westbound Honda SUV, and a westbound flatbed entry.
Myrtle Avenue has a long crash record
The crash was recorded at Myrtle Avenue and Walworth Street in Brooklyn’s 11205 zip code, and reporters described the construction work zone as along Myrtle Avenue between Walworth and Sandford streets.
CrashCountNYC’s Crash Finder groups this location with the Myrtle Avenue - Brooklyn corridor. Since 2022, that corridor recorded 1,603 crashes, 853 injuries, 44 serious injuries and 5 deaths.
Luis Mario Sangurima was directing traffic
The Daily News identified the victim as Luis Mario Sangurima, 37, and reported that he lived in Newark. Both articles described him as a construction worker or flagger directing drivers around a work site when he was hit.
Medics took Sangurima to Woodhull Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, according to the news reports.
Police focused on a passing maneuver
The Daily News reported that police said the driver tried to get around the left side of a slow-moving box truck and moved into oncoming traffic next to the construction zone before hitting Sangurima. ABC7 reported witnesses said the driver was going too fast and tried to pass without enough space or right of way.
ABC7 identified witness Michael Matson, who said, “He was going so fast,” while describing the crash. The Daily News reported that police arrested Clyde Mercury, 36, at the scene.
Clyde Mercury was charged
Police charged Clyde Mercury with criminally negligent homicide, reckless endangerment, reckless driving and failure to exercise due care, according to both news reports. The Daily News reported that Mercury lived in Crown Heights and that his Brooklyn Criminal Court arraignment was pending Wednesday.