Driver Charged After 88-Year-Old Pedestrian Dies in Queens
Filippo Bonura struck 88-year-old Chung Lun Shao on Dry Harbor Road in Queens; Shao died weeks later, and Bonura was charged with driving on a suspended license.
What We Know
An 88-year-old man was killed while crossing Dry Harbor Road near 61st Street in Queens around 4:55 a.m. on July 29, 2023. According to the police report, a westbound pickup driver going straight hit the pedestrian outside an intersection, causing head injuries and fractures. Police recorded driver inattention as a contributing factor. The driver was unlicensed at the time of the crash. The vehicle was a pickup truck, an oversized vehicle for that street.
Before dawn on Dry Harbor Road
The crash happened at about 4:55 a.m. on July 29, 2023, at 61-88 Dry Harbor Road in Queens. The official record lists one pedestrian killed and no other injuries.
The Daily News reported that prosecutors identified the driver as 48-year-old Filippo Bonura and the pedestrian as Chung Lun Shao, 88. Prosecutors said Bonura was driving a 2017 Chevrolet Silverado when he hit Shao on Dry Harbor Road and 84th Street in Middle Village.
Chung Lun Shao died after weeks in the hospital
The Daily News described Shao as an 88-year-old Queens chef. Prosecutors said police found him sitting on the sidewalk with a deep cut to his elbow, and he was taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center.
The article reported that Shao died three weeks later from injuries that included a punctured lung, broken ribs, a fractured pelvis, internal bleeding and a brain bleed. His daughter, Alice Shao, told the Daily News that the decision was made to take him off a ventilator.
Investigators recorded driver distraction; the account was disputed
The official vehicle record lists driver inattention or distraction as a contributing factor. It also says the driver was going straight ahead and west before the crash, and lists the driver's license status as unlicensed.
According to the Daily News, Bonura told police Shao stepped out between two cars and was walking across the street when Bonura ran into him. Alice Shao showed the paper video that she said contradicted that account, and the Daily News reported that the footage showed Shao visible in the roadway for several seconds before the driver hit him.
Dry Harbor Road has seen dozens of crashes in recent years
The crash location is listed at 61-88 Dry Harbor Road in Queens. CrashCountNYC's street-level view for Dry Harbor Road in Queens shows 58 crashes, 34 injuries, one serious injury and one death from the start of 2022 through June 1, 2026.