Bronx driver charged after 16-year-old student dies in crash.
Police said driver Joseph Zillitto Jr. hit 16-year-old Alissa Kolenovic as she walked to school at Neill and Paulding avenues in the Bronx; the official record dates the fatal crash to May 4, 2022, at 8:22 a.m.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
Police accounts identify driver Joseph Zillitto Jr. as the person who hit 16-year-old Alissa Kolenovic while she was walking to school. Reports differ on whether he turned onto Neill Avenue or Paulding Avenue. Norwood News and CBS reported that he remained at the scene and was charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to use due care.
A student heading to school.
Norwood News reported that Alissa Kolenovic, 16, lived in the Morris Park section of the Bronx. NY1 said she attended high school in Manhattan and was heading to school.
Norwood News and NY1 reported that she was taken to Jacobi Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Two accounts describe different turns.
Norwood News, citing a preliminary police investigation, reported that 46-year-old Joseph Zillitto Jr. drove south on Paulding Avenue, stopped at Neill Avenue, then turned left onto Neill and hit Kolenovic as she crossed Neill from south to north. It described the vehicle as a 2017 Ford F-750 box truck.
NY1 reported that Zillitto hit her while turning left onto Paulding Avenue. It described the vehicle as a 2017 multicolored Ford truck. The official record lists a 2017 box truck, a left turn and eastward travel, but does not resolve the difference in the reported turn.
The family raised concerns about the intersection.
The official record places the crash at Neill Avenue and Paulding Avenue in the Bronx at 8:22 a.m. Norwood News reported that police responded to a call at 1027 Neill Avenue.
CBS later reported that Kolenovic's family considered the area unsafe and said a traffic light should be installed.
Police arrested and charged the driver.
Norwood News reported that Zillitto remained at the scene, was arrested at 10:57 a.m. and was charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to use due care. CBS also reported the charges.
The official crash record lists failure to yield right-of-way as a contributing factor. Norwood News reported that the NYPD Collision Investigation Squad was investigating.