Two hit-and-run drivers fatally injured Omar Stewart in Brooklyn
City records say a pedestrian was killed near Washington Avenue and Dean Street at 2:14 a.m.; police told the Daily News two hit-and-run drivers hit Omar Stewart, 61, as he was trying to enter a cab.
What We Know
Omar Stewart, 61, was fatally injured near Washington Avenue and Dean Street in Brooklyn early July 10, 2022. City crash data records one pedestrian death at 2:14 a.m. and lists driver inattention or distraction as a contributing factor. Police accounts reported by the New York Post and Daily News said two drivers hit Stewart and left the scene. The Daily News later reported that NYPD video showed a white Toyota RAV4 driver hit Stewart as he stepped into a cab, then a black SUV driver hit him while traveling the opposite way. City data identifies one listed vehicle type as a sedan, creating a conflict with the Daily News descriptions of SUVs.
Police said two drivers left Stewart in the street
City crash data records one pedestrian killed at Washington Avenue and Dean Street in Brooklyn at 2:14 a.m. on July 10, 2022. The official record lists driver inattention or distraction as a contributing factor.
The New York Post, citing police, reported that a northbound driver hit a 61-year-old man crossing Washington Avenue, and that a second driver traveling south hit him while he was lying in the street. Both drivers fled, police said.
The Daily News reported a different movement detail: police said Stewart was trying to enter a cab near Dean Street when the first driver hit him. A later Daily News report, citing NYPD video, said the first driver hit him as he stepped into a cab and the second driver hit him while traveling the opposite direction.
Omar Stewart was heading home from a block party
The Daily News identified the pedestrian as Omar Stewart, 61. His fiancée, Kecia Edey, told the paper she had spoken with him on FaceTime moments before he was hit, and said he was heading home to Bedford-Stuyvesant from a block party.
The Daily News reported that Stewart was a father of three and worked as a tour bus driver. Edey told the paper, “Someone could have stopped and he could have been living today.”
Descriptions of the drivers’ vehicles differ by source
City data lists one involved vehicle type as a sedan and records two involved vehicles moving straight ahead in opposite directions, one northbound and one southbound.
The New York Post reported that police had no description of either vehicle on July 10. The Daily News initially described the first driver as an SUV driver, then later reported that NYPD surveillance footage showed a white Toyota RAV4 and a black four-door SUV. The later Daily News account said police reported the RAV4 had after-market rims, no apparent license plate, and visible front-end damage.
Police asked for help finding the drivers
Medics took Stewart to New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist with a severe head injury, according to the Daily News, and he died there. The New York Post also reported that he was taken to New York-Presbyterian Hospital and declared dead a short time later.
On August 9, 2022, the Daily News reported that the NYPD released surveillance footage and asked the public for help identifying and locating the drivers.
Washington Avenue has seen hundreds of crashes since 2022
The crash happened at Washington Avenue and Dean Street in Brooklyn. CrashCountNYC’s street-level context for Washington Avenue in Brooklyn shows 708 crashes, 454 injuries, 34 serious injuries and 2 deaths from the start of 2022 through June 1, 2026.