NYPD Officer’s Emergency Run Kills Pedestrian in Far Rockaway
The city crash record says a 52-year-old pedestrian was killed and four motorists were injured at Beach Channel Drive and Bay 32 Street; the Daily News reported Officer Sudan Osorio was speeding to an urgent NYPD call when the chain-reaction crash killed Zabina Gafoor.
What We Know
Zabina Gafoor, a 52-year-old pedestrian, was killed on Feb. 17, 2023, at Beach Channel Drive and Bay 32 Street in Queens, where the city crash record also lists four injured motorists. Press accounts said Officer Sudan Osorio was driving a marked NYPD Ford Explorer westbound to an urgent call when he tried to pass a Toyota Corolla near the intersection. The Daily News reported the police SUV reached more than 70 mph in a 25 mph zone before Osorio crossed the double yellow line; the Toyota driver turned left, and the crash sent the police SUV toward Gafoor, who was standing near the curb in the bike lane. The state attorney general later declined to bring criminal charges.
An emergency response became a fatal chain reaction
The city crash record places the crash at 8:33 p.m. on Feb. 17, 2023, at Beach Channel Drive and Bay 32 Street in Queens. It records one pedestrian killed and four motorists injured, with an SUV and sedans involved.
AMNY reported that four officers were riding in a marked NYPD Ford Explorer westbound on Beach Channel Drive with emergency lights activated, responding to a report of an officer needing assistance. The Daily News later identified the driver as Police Officer Sudan Osorio and reported that he reached speeds above 70 mph in a 25 mph zone.
According to the Daily News, Osorio crossed the double yellow line to pass a Toyota Corolla as its driver slowed to turn left at Bay 32 Street. AMNY reported that the Toyota driver, a 44-year-old woman, was turning left from Beach Channel Drive onto southbound Bay 32 Street. After the contact between the police SUV and the Corolla, Gafoor was hit while standing just off the curb in the bicycle lane.
Beach Channel Drive has seen repeated harm
The crash happened at Beach Channel Drive and Bay 32 Street in Queens, near the Wavecrest and Far Rockaway area described in press accounts.
CrashCountNYC’s location context for Beach Channel Drive in Queens counts 833 crashes, 513 injuries, 36 serious injuries and 6 deaths from the start of 2022 through June 1, 2026.
Zabina Gafoor was walking to work
The Daily News identified the pedestrian as Zabina Gafoor, 52, and reported that she was a Queens home health aide on her way to work. The city crash record lists the person killed as a 52-year-old female pedestrian.
Accounts differ on where Gafoor died. AMNY and the New York Post reported that she was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead there; the Daily News later reported that she died at the scene despite CPR efforts by officers.
The city crash record lists four injured motorists. AMNY and the Daily News reported that the injured people were four officers, who were treated for minor injuries; the Daily News reported that the Toyota driver was not hurt.
Records and reports describe an NYPD SUV and two sedans
The city crash record lists a 2017 Ford SUV traveling west with four occupants and front-end damage. AMNY described it as a marked NYPD Ford Explorer.
The official record also lists a 2020 Toyota sedan and a 2020 Honda sedan. AMNY described the Toyota as a Corolla driven by a 44-year-old woman and the Honda as a parked, unoccupied Accord in a nearby parking lot.
The attorney general declined criminal charges
In December 2024, the Daily News reported that the state attorney general’s Office of Special Investigation found Officer Osorio responsible for Gafoor’s death but concluded he was not criminally liable and declined to pursue criminal charges.