Man, 67, fatally struck on Brooklyn sidewalk after driver jumps curb in chain-reaction crash

A chain-reaction crash sent an SUV vaulting over the curb in Brooklyn, killing a 67-year-old man on the sidewalk, police said Sunday.

The chaos began when a 48-year-old man driving a 2025 Toyota Highlander east on St. Marks Ave. in Crown Heights slammed into a 2026 Hyundai Palisade going north on Franklin Ave. about 3 p.m. Saturday, cops said.

The impact sent the Hyundai over the curb and careening into the pedestrian before striking a parked and unoccupied 2006 Honda Odyssey, cops said.

Lakeysha Smith, 51, who lives in a nearby building, came outside and saw the crash as she headed to a nearby bus stop.

“I seen him lying there and he was out of it,” she said. “I got on the phone and called 911. I was saying, ‘Help him, help him!”

A firefighter who lived in her building ran down and administered CPR until an ambulance arrived, she said.

Medics took the pedestrian to Kings County Hospital but he could not be saved. His name was not immediately released.

“I was praying he did (survive) and now I’m devastated. It’s tragic,” she said. “I seen him in the ambulance. He lifted one arm up…. They gave him oxygen, everything. He looked like his eyes was moving.”

Both drivers remained at the scene and were not hurt. They faced no immediate charges as cops continue to investigate.

“If I would have walked out there, it might have been me,” Smith said.

The death marks the third pedestrian death in Brooklyn since Friday, and the second time in two days an out-of-control driver fatally struck a pedestrian on a Brooklyn sidewalk.

On Friday, a 79-year-old woman was killed when the driver of a Lexus crossover SUV pinned her against a building at E. 92nd St. and Rutland Road in East Flatbush and then dragged her body, cops and witnesses said. Yvette James died at the scene.

A witness told the Daily News the victim was resting on a large planter when the “speeding” Lexus driver lost control and mounted the curb.

“The car pinned her against the wall and dragged her,” Rohan Seales, 53, a Verizon worker, said.

Seales recalled seeing the victim’s cell phone ringing on the ground as her family tried to contact her.

“Her grandchildren showed up and (a relative) said she was the one calling,” Seales said.

“Her body was bent up. There was no movement. And her face, her face,” the witness added. “I’m seeing her face right now.”

Neighbors told The News the victim lived nearby and was known locally for volunteering at a food pantry run by the Eglise De Dieu/Church of God.

The pastor there told ABC 7 New York that she had been a steady volunteer for nearly three decades.

“A lot of people knew her,” Pastor Duvil Baujour told the station. “Because she was always the one to distribute food. She had established it on Wednesday to do it and on Saturday she’s there to control the crowd.”

The shattered planter and a fallen No Parking sign, which was ripped out of the asphalt in the crash, were visible at the scene.

The driver, a 63-year-old woman, was taken to Brookdale University Hospital and not immediately charged.

Also on Friday, a 34-year-old man driving a Freightliner flatbed truck fatally struck a man crossing over the center median of Pennsylvania Ave., near Wortman Ave. in East New York. Cops on Sunday were still trying to determine the identity of the victim, who died at Brookdale University Hospital.

The truck driver remained at the scene and was not immediately charged.