Driver Kills Bodega Worker on Avenue M, Leaves Scene
A driver in a Nissan Pathfinder hit and killed bodega worker Ali Alshawesh on Avenue M in Canarsie at about 11:31 p.m. on September 4, 2022, and left the scene.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
A driver in a gray Nissan Pathfinder hit Ali Alshawesh on Avenue M in Canarsie late on September 4, 2022. Police told the Daily News that Alshawesh was walking on the sidewalk and that the driver made a wide turn from Remsen Avenue, hit a parked car after striking him, and left. The official vehicle record instead describes the Nissan traveling east and going straight ahead; it lists unsafe speed as a contributing factor. Medics took Alshawesh to Brookdale University Hospital, where he died. Police found the Pathfinder abandoned nearby and were searching for its driver the next day.
The collision and the driver's departure
Police told the Daily News that Alshawesh was walking on the Avenue M sidewalk when a driver in a 2014 gray Nissan Pathfinder made a wide turn from Remsen Avenue and hit him. The driver then hit a parked, unoccupied car and left, according to the report. The official record places the fatal collision at 11:31 p.m. on September 4.
Avenue M in Canarsie
The collision happened on Avenue M near Remsen Avenue in Canarsie, a few blocks from Alshawesh's home. A local resident told the Daily News that he had sought a stoplight, more stop signs and more crosswalks in the area, citing a nearby school.
Ali Alshawesh and his family
Alshawesh was leaving his job at a bodega on Avenue L when the collision occurred, his son Salim Alshawesh told the Daily News. He had immigrated from Yemen and lived above his brother's business; his wife and five children were in Yemen. Salim remembered him as a peaceful person and said, "He left a big, empty space in everyone’s heart." The Daily News reported that Alshawesh was 64; the official record gives his age as 65.
What the vehicle records and police account say
The official record describes the Nissan as traveling east and going straight ahead, while police described a wide turn to the Daily News. The record lists unsafe speed as a contributing factor for the Nissan driver. It also identifies a parked 2007 Dodge SUV with damage at its left rear.
Hospital treatment and the search for the driver
Medics took Alshawesh to Brookdale University Hospital, where he died. Police found the abandoned Pathfinder on East 96th Street near Avenue M and were still searching for its driver when the Daily News reported on the collision the next day.