Brooklyn driver charged after construction flagger’s death
The Flagger
Police said Clyde Mercury was driving east on Myrtle Avenue when he struck construction flagger Luis Mario Sangurima near Walworth Street on Oct. 29, 2024; the official record logs the crash at 1:53 p.m. and records one pedestrian killed and one motorist injured.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
Clyde Mercury, 36, was arrested and charged with criminally negligent homicide and three other offenses after the death of 37-year-old construction flagger Luis Mario Sangurima. The Daily News reported police said Mercury drove east in an Enterprise rental van while trying to pass a box truck; ABC7 described a westbound Ford Transit, while Patch described an eastbound Ford Transit. The official record classifies a Ford as a pickup and lists three other vehicles; reports also differ on the collision sequence.
Accounts differ on how the crash unfolded.
The Daily News, citing police, reported that Mercury was driving an Enterprise rental van east on Myrtle Avenue, tried to pass a slow-moving box truck on its left, sideswiped it, struck Sangurima and then collided with an oncoming Honda Odyssey.
ABC7 described surveillance video as showing a driver apparently pinning Sangurima against another car. Witness Michael Matson told the outlet that the van was moving too fast, made contact with Sangurima with its side mirror, and that Sangurima was later thrown beneath a box truck.
Patch’s account of a preliminary police investigation described a driver traveling east in a white 2023 Ford Transit who collided with an 18-wheeler before striking Sangurima. El Diario described the Ford Transit as an 18-wheeler traveling west.
The official record lists an eastbound 2023 Ford pickup, an eastbound box truck, a westbound Honda station wagon or SUV, and a westbound flatbed truck. Its Ford classification differs from press accounts calling the vehicle a van or Transit, and the reports give different directions and collision sequences.
The crash happened at a work site on Myrtle Avenue.
The official record places the crash at Myrtle Avenue and Walworth Street in Brooklyn. Patch located it near 724 Myrtle Avenue, between Walworth and Sandford streets. The Daily News reported that work crews had occupied part of the street and that Sangurima was directing drivers through a narrow lane.
Luis Mario Sangurima was directing traffic.
The Daily News identified Sangurima, 37, as a construction flagger who lived in Newark. It reported that he was directing drivers past the construction site.
Mercury faced four charges.
The Daily News reported that police arrested Mercury, 36, at the scene and charged him with criminally negligent homicide, reckless endangerment, reckless driving and failure to exercise due care. His arraignment was pending when the paper reported on Oct. 30. The charges are allegations, not findings of guilt.