Teen e-bike rider killed at Ditmas and Coney Island
A 48-year-old man driving a 2017 Hino box truck remained at the scene after a crash with an e-bike at Ditmas and Coney Island avenues that killed 16-year-old Juraed Umedjon and injured another cyclist, according to police and city records.
What We Know
City records and police accounts place the crash at Ditmas Avenue and Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn on Aug. 19, 2024. The official record lists one cyclist killed and one cyclist injured in a crash involving a box truck and an e-bike. Police identified the person who died as 16-year-old Juraed Umedjon and said two other teenage boys were riding on the e-bike. Published accounts agree that the box-truck driver remained at the scene and that no arrest was reported, but they describe the approach and sequence in different ways: some accounts say the teens were hit as the driver turned right, while others say the teens tried to pass, lost control and ended up under the truck.
What police and city records say happened
City records list the crash at 1:54 p.m. on Aug. 19, 2024, at Ditmas Avenue and Coney Island Avenue, with one cyclist killed and one cyclist injured. The record identifies the involved vehicles as a box truck and an e-bike.
Police identified the teen who died as Juraed Umedjon, 16. News accounts said he was riding with two other teenage boys; a 15-year-old was taken to Maimonides Medical Center in stable condition, while accounts described the other 16-year-old as either treated at the scene for minor injuries or not hurt.
The published accounts do not describe the sequence identically. The New York Post reported that the teens were traveling on Ditmas Avenue toward Coney Island Avenue and were hit as the driver made a right turn. Gothamist reported that the teens attempted to pass alongside the truck, lost control and ended up under the truck’s wheels. amNewYork reported that Umedjon lost control, struck a traffic cone and ended up beneath the rear passenger tires.
A busy Brooklyn intersection on a deadly corridor
The crash happened where Ditmas Avenue meets Coney Island Avenue in Brooklyn. Gothamist described the location as a busy thoroughfare that advocates said lacked a dedicated bike lane.
amNewYork described Coney Island Avenue as a particularly deadly Brooklyn corridor, reporting that since 2011 the road had been the site of 15 deaths and nearly 2,800 injuries in crashes.
The vehicles and movements recorded
City records identify the commercial vehicle as a 2017 Hino box truck with one occupant, driven by a licensed New York driver. Gothamist also described the driver as a 48-year-old man.
The same city record lists the e-bike as a Hurley with three occupants. City records list both the box-truck driver and the e-bike rider as making right turns before the crash.
No arrest reported after the crash
Police said the box-truck driver remained at the scene. The New York Post, Gothamist and amNewYork each reported that no arrest had been made; amNewYork added that police did not suspect criminality.
Advocacy group Transportation Alternatives told Gothamist that Umedjon was the 12th minor to die in New York City traffic in 2024. amNewYork reported the same figure and said he was also the 15th cyclist to die in a city traffic collision that year.