Driver Charged in Far Rockaway Sidewalk Death
Police said Kiani Phoenix drove onto a Far Rockaway sidewalk, fatally hit Milton Storch and injured another man after a dispute with another woman.
What We Know
Milton Storch, 59, was killed and another pedestrian was injured on Beach 20th Street in Far Rockaway on the morning of Aug. 27, 2022. The city crash record lists a sedan and cites aggressive driving or road rage. Police told the New York Post that a woman argued with another woman, got into a Honda, drove onto the sidewalk and hit Storch, who was sitting on a walker outside a deli. Police said the driver then backed up, hit another man and left the scene. Kiani Phoenix later turned herself in and was charged with murder, attempted murder, assault and leaving the scene, according to the Post. Her attorney said she had been attacked before the crash and described a history of abuse complaints tied to the dispute.
Police described a sidewalk impact after a street dispute
The crash happened shortly before 7:20 a.m. on Aug. 27, 2022, outside 601 Beach 20th Street in Far Rockaway. The city record lists one pedestrian killed and one pedestrian injured in a crash involving a sedan.
Police told the New York Post that two women had been arguing before one of them got into a Honda and drove onto the sidewalk. Police said the driver hit Milton Storch, 59, who was sitting on a walker, then backed up and hit another man before leaving the scene.
Beach 20th Street had a broader crash toll
The fatal crash was recorded at 601 Beach 20th Street in Queens, near the Far Rockaway commercial strip described in press accounts.
CrashCountNYC location data for Beach 20th Street in Queens counts 151 crashes, 68 injuries, 2 serious injuries and 1 death from Jan. 1, 2022, through June 1, 2026.
Milton Storch was remembered as a quiet neighborhood regular
The official pedestrian record identifies the person killed as a 59-year-old man. The Post later identified him as Milton Storch and reported that he lived in the neighborhood.
Neighbors and locals told the Post that Storch was a quiet man and a regular on the block. Jorge Alberto Senquis said Storch often sat there in the morning drinking coffee and smoking a cigarette, calling him in the “wrong place, wrong time.”
Sources identified a Honda sedan
The city vehicle record lists one sedan, with a Honda make entry, traveling south with two occupants before the crash. The Post described the vehicle as a Honda and later as a Honda Accord.
The official record cites aggressive driving or road rage as a contributing factor for the driver of the sedan.
Police alleged targeting; the defense pointed to prior abuse
Police and court allegations reported by the Post said Phoenix was trying to hit another woman after an argument when she drove onto the sidewalk and hit Storch instead. The Post reported that the other woman and others ducked into the deli for cover before Storch was hit.
Phoenix’s attorney told the Post that Phoenix had been attacked before the crash and tied the confrontation to abuse complaints involving her estranged boyfriend. That account framed the crash as an avoidable accident, while police and prosecutors pursued intentional-crime charges.
Kiani Phoenix turned herself in and faced felony charges
The Post reported that Kiani Phoenix, 26, turned herself in two days after the crash. Police said she was charged with murder, attempted murder, assault and reckless endangerment; a later Post account also listed leaving the scene without reporting.