By Joe Anuta
The family of a Guyanese immigrant was making funeral arrangements this week after police said a car slammed into the 47-year-old father of two while he was crossing Liberty Avenue in Richmond Hill Sunday morning and then fled the scene.
Police could not confirm the make or model of the car, but surveillance footage from a nearby store shows a two-door, dark sedan hitting Rohan Singh so hard that the Woodhaven man flew into the air and landed in a heap on the sidewalk near the corner of 108th Street.
According to witnesses, Singh was walking from a nearby bar to a corner store when he was struck.
Police received the call at about 3:15 a.m. Emergency personnel took Singh to Jamaica Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to the NYPD.
Later Sunday, Singh’s family came to the scene of the accident and put up a small memorial.
“It’s not right. They hit him and leave him to die in the street,” said Chateram Singh one of the man’s seven siblings. “I can cope with it, but for my mother it is very hard.”
Singh has a wife and two teenage children living in Guyana, his brother said.
According to shop owner Mike Ficco, Singh often came into his store to buy a beer.
“He was a nice guy,” Ficco said as he fielded questions and accommodated a crowd of reporters and neighbors. “I wouldn’t be doing all this if he wasn’t.”
Ficco played surveillance footage of the accidents for horrified family members and neighbors.
Singh’s family is currently attempting to get a visa for the slain man’s wife to come to the country.
His brother asked anyone with information to contact the police.
Reach reporter Joe Anuta by e-mail at januta@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
