A driver has been arrested for fatally striking a 90-year-old woman with his vehicle as she attempted to cross a Richmond Hill street on Wednesday morning.
According to police, at 6:53 a.m. on Nov. 7, officers from the 102nd Precinct responded to a 911 call regarding a pedestrian struck at the corner of Jamaica Avenue and 129th Street. Upon their arrival, officers found 90-year-old Isabel Duarte unconscious and unresponsive with trauma to her body.
A preliminary investigation found that a Ford Econoline van, operated by 25-year-old Eber Baten, was driving westbound on Jamaica Avenue before the incident. When he made a made a left turn onto 129th Street, he struck Duarte, who was crossing the street eastbound on Jamaica Avenue.
EMS responded to the scene and took Duarte, who resided on 129th Street in Richmond Hill, to Jamaica Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Law enforcement sources said that Baten, a resident of 131st Street in Richmond Hill, initially fled the scene following the collision, but was found shortly afterwards by police and taken into custody.
Baten was charged with leaving the scene of an accident, failure to yield, driving without a license and failure to exercise due care.
The investigation remains ongoing.
