The family of Virginia Montalvo was too distraught to speak with reporters gathered outside her home on 96th Street in Woodhaven the morning after the 71-year-old was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver.
According to police, the mother of six and grandmother of 12 had been collecting bottles and cans and was crossing Jamaica Avenue southbound at about 10:30 p.m. on Monday, April 6 when she was struck by a dark-colored cargo van, traveling eastbound on Jamaica Avenue.
Witnesses have reportedly said that the vehicle did not slow down after hitting Montalvo. It is unclear if the car was speeding. The driver then fled eastbound on Jamaica Avenue.
Montalvo was taken to Jamaica Hospital, where she later died.
Calling hit-and-run incidents a citywide epidemic, Maria A. Thomson, Executive Director of the Woodhaven Business Improvement District (BID), told The Courier Sun, “This was a terrible situation, a tragedy.”
She continued, “That’s a heartless individual, a sad commentary on humanity. My heart goes out to her family. To hit a person and keep going, I can’t conceive of this. Drivers have to understand that they can not hurt or kill people by driving crazily on our streets.”
Police are still searching for the driver of the van. If you have any information relating to this case, call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS.
Thomson said she would be reaching out to Montalvo’s family to “offer assistance in any way we can.”
In the meantime, she said that she hopes the driver “has a conscious and turns himself in.”
