Driver flees after hitting 4-year-old on Rockaway Parkway
At 11:05 a.m. on March 5, 2026, a driver in a Ford SUV hit 4-year-old pedestrian Zachariah Padilla on Rockaway Parkway near Linden Boulevard and fled as his mother carried him into Brookdale University Hospital.
What We Know
Zachariah Padilla, 4, was killed on March 5, 2026, after a driver in a Ford SUV hit him near Rockaway Parkway and Linden Boulevard in Brooklyn. The city crash record lists the time as 11:05 a.m. and records one pedestrian killed and one pedestrian injured. Police and news reports said Zachariah had just left urgent care with his mother, Harmonie Wright, when he broke away near Brookdale University Hospital. Wright said she tried to catch him, was hit too, then carried him into the hospital. Police were still searching for the driver, who left the scene in a white Ford SUV.
A driver left after hitting a child near Brookdale Hospital
The city crash record places the crash on Rockaway Parkway at 11:05 a.m. and lists one pedestrian killed and one pedestrian injured. The recorded vehicle was a Ford SUV traveling north and going straight ahead, with damage noted to the front of the SUV.
Police accounts reported by news outlets said 4-year-old Zachariah Padilla broke away from his mother near Rockaway Parkway and Linden Boulevard before a driver in a white Ford SUV hit him and did not remain at the scene. His mother carried him into Brookdale University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Zachariah Padilla and his mother
Police identified the child as Zachariah Padilla, 4, and ABC7 identified his mother as Harmonie Wright. Wright told ABC7, “My house is silent. I don't hear no noise. All my boys make noise. I'm hurt right now.”
Wright said she tried to catch her son, was hit too, and then carried him into the hospital. She told CBS New York she wanted the driver found, saying, “I want justice for my child.”
Rockaway Parkway and Linden Boulevard were already a danger point
The official record lists the crash on Rockaway Parkway, and news reports placed it near Linden Boulevard outside Brookdale University Hospital. ABC7 described the intersection as one of the city’s most dangerous, citing city statistics showing at least 30 pedestrians struck there over four years.
Streetsblog reported 368 crashes within a three-block radius since January 2022, injuring 215 people, including 29 pedestrians and 11 cyclists. Transportation Alternatives said a speed camera at Rockaway Parkway and Linden Boulevard recorded 3,600 speeding drivers last year.
Accounts differed on the exact crossing details
The official record describes Zachariah as crossing in a marked crosswalk without a signal and away from an intersection. Some news reports described the crash at the intersection of Rockaway Parkway and Linden Boulevard, while amNY and The Brooklyn Paper said police described a mid-block crosswalk just north of Linden Boulevard. News12 reported that investigators said the driver had the green light while the child was crossing.
Police searched for the driver as advocates pushed for slower speeds
Police said the driver did not stop, and CBS New York reported that investigators had security video but had not released it publicly. Police asked anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.
Transportation Alternatives urged the city to lower the speed limit on Rockaway Parkway from 25 to 20 mph under Sammy’s Law. The group’s executive director, Ben Furnas, called the death “every parent's nightmare” and said the city must ensure drivers move at a safe 20 mph.