Police from the 109th Precinct in Flushing are looking for two women who ran away from the scene of a fatal collision in Queensboro Hill early Tuesday morning.
One of the women was behind the wheel of a 2015 Ford U-Haul box truck traveling westbound on the Horace Harding Expressway just after midnight when she jumped a small curb and struck a 56-year-old man as well as an overhead light pole, police said.
The U-Haul driver continued on through the intersection of Kissena Boulevard, where she crashed into a 2015 Honda Accord that was heading southbound towards the Long Island Expressway. The U-Haul driver and her female passenger jumped out of the truck and ran away from the scene westbound on the Horace Harding Expressway. The passenger was reportedly barefoot after leaving her sneakers in the cab of the U-Haul.
EMS responded to the location and pronounced the man dead at the scene, an NYPD spokesman said. The 42-year-old man who was behind the wheel of the Honda Accord was transported to New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.
The deceased pedestrian was later identified as David A. Opiela of 59th Avenue in Queensboro Hill, police said. He lived just two blocks away from the scene of the crash.
There are no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing by the NYPD Highway District’s Collision Investigation Squad.
