Bronx Driver Charged After Pedestrian Dies in Castle Hill Crash.
Police said driver Ramon Cedeno-Ortiz, 54, struck Tian-Rong Lin as he turned left at Olmstead Avenue and Seward Avenue in the Bronx at 11:02 a.m. on May 14, 2022; the official record lists one pedestrian killed.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
Police accounts said Cedeno-Ortiz, 54, was driving a 2004 Ford van south on Olmstead Avenue when he turned left onto Seward Avenue and struck Lin as she crossed. The official record describes the Ford as a station wagon or sport utility vehicle and records eastward travel before a left turn. News reports said Lin was taken to Jacobi Hospital and died there. Cedeno-Ortiz remained at the scene and was charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to use due care.
Reports differ on the driver's direction and the Ford's type.
Police accounts reported by Norwood News and Streetsblog said Cedeno-Ortiz was driving a 2004 Ford van south on Olmstead Avenue, turned left onto Seward Avenue, and struck Lin as she crossed; Streetsblog said she was in a crosswalk. The official record instead lists eastward travel before a left turn and classifies the Ford as a station wagon or sport utility vehicle. It also places Lin in a marked crosswalk.
Norwood News and Streetsblog reported that Lin was taken to Jacobi Hospital and died there. El Diario also reported that she died after surgery at the hospital.
The crash happened at a marked crossing in Castle Hill.
The crash occurred at Olmstead Avenue and Seward Avenue in the Bronx's Castle Hill neighborhood. The official record places Lin in a marked crosswalk at the intersection; Streetsblog described it as a four-way stop.
Lin volunteered at a church food bank and enjoyed gardening.
El Diario reported, citing her husband Ben Ying, that Lin was going to collect produce at a local church food bank where she volunteered. Ying said they had met in China's Fujian province more than 40 years earlier and had a son; the article reported that Lin enjoyed gardening. Norwood News identified Lin as living on Chatterton Avenue in the Unionport section of the Bronx.
The driver faced traffic charges after remaining at the scene.
Norwood News reported that Cedeno-Ortiz remained at the scene, was arrested that afternoon, and was charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to use due care. Streetsblog described the charges as traffic summonses. The official record lists failure to yield right-of-way as a contributing factor. The charges are allegations, not convictions.
El Diario reported that Ying said police told him the driver had not stopped. Norwood News reported that the NYPD Collision Investigation Squad was investigating.