Driver Fled After 62-Year-Old Was Fatally Hit in Queens
A driver hit and fatally injured 62-year-old pedestrian Christopher Gayton at 166th Street and Linden Boulevard in Queens on April 24, 2025, and police told reporters the first driver fled before a Ford driver ran over him.
What We Know
Police and city crash records describe a fatal pedestrian crash at 166th Street and Linden Boulevard in Queens on April 24, 2025. Christopher Gayton, 62, was crossing near his South Jamaica home when a driver traveling east hit him, police told reporters. News accounts said that driver left the scene before a 49-year-old Ford driver ran over Gayton and remained there. Gayton was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in critical condition and died the next day. The official crash record lists one pedestrian death and records failure to yield right of way and driver inattention or distraction as contributing factors.
Police described two drivers hitting a man crossing Linden Boulevard
Christopher Gayton, 62, was attempting to cross Linden Boulevard near 166th Street at about 8:45 p.m. when a driver traveling east hit him, police told reporters. The Daily News reported that Gayton was walking with a cane and was outside his South Jamaica home.
Police told both outlets that the first driver left the scene. A 49-year-old Ford driver then ran over Gayton and remained there, according to the reports.
The crash happened on a heavily traveled Queens corridor
The crash record places the fatal collision at 166th Street and Linden Boulevard in Queens.
CrashCountNYC’s Crash Finder counted 1,300 crashes, 910 injuries, 51 serious injuries and 2 deaths on Linden Boulevard in Queens from the start of 2022 through June 1, 2026.
Christopher Gayton died the next day
The official record identifies the person killed as a 62-year-old male pedestrian. News reports named him as Christopher Gayton and said he was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in critical condition before he died the following day.
A relative mourned him on Facebook as a brother, father, son, uncle and cousin, the Daily News reported.
Records and news accounts identify the Ford driver, but differ on vehicle details
News accounts said the second driver was a 49-year-old man operating a 2024 Ford Edge. The official vehicle detail record lists a 2024 Ford SUV traveling east and a 2016 Chrysler sedan traveling east, each with one occupant and center-front damage.
The official collision summary groups both vehicle types as sport utility vehicles, while the detailed vehicle entries list the Chrysler as a sedan and the Ford as an SUV.
Police continued searching for the driver who left
The Ford driver remained at the scene and had not been charged, according to the Daily News and Patch. Patch reported that no arrests had been made and that the NYPD Highway District’s Collision Investigation Squad was continuing the investigation.