By Bill Parry
An 81-year-old man was fatally stuck by a car just blocks from his Dutch Kills home last week, police said.
Soliman Leano, who lived on 37th Avenue near 21st Street, was crossing 31st Street, when he was hit by a car traveling southbound on 31st Street across 37th Avenue around 9 p.m. Dec. 21, according to the NYPD.
The NYPD’s Highway District’s Collision Investigation Squad determined the 34-year-old driver of a 2003 Chevrolet Suburban had a green light when he struck Leano, knocking him to the ground just south of the crosswalk. The operator then swerved left and struck a support column for the elevated Astoria line subway before coming to a stop, investigators said.
Police from the 114th Precinct, responding to a 911 call of a motor vehicle collision, discovered Leano with trauma to the head and torso. EMS responded to the scene and transported the victim to Cornell Hospital, where he was pronounced dead Friday, Dec. 22, police said.
The driver remained at the scene, police said. There are no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail at bparr
