Driver kills 4-year-old on Rockaway Parkway, flees
A driver in a white Ford Explorer hit and killed 4-year-old Zachariah Padilla as he crossed Rockaway Parkway in a marked crosswalk around 11:05 a.m. on March 5, 2026, then fled, police and city records show.
What We Know
At about 11:05 a.m. on March 5, 2026, city crash data records a fatal pedestrian crash on Rockaway Parkway in Brownsville: a northbound driver in a Ford SUV was going straight ahead when the driver hit a 4-year-old boy in a marked crosswalk away from an intersection. Brooklyn Paper, citing police, identified the child as area resident Zachariah Padilla and said the driver of a white Ford Explorer fled after the impact. amNewYork reported the boy was with his parents, ran into the rain-slicked roadway, and was taken by his parents to Brookdale University Hospital, where he died. Published accounts differ on the exact location and time: city data lists Rockaway Parkway at 11:05 a.m., Brooklyn Paper describes a mid-block crosswalk just north of Linden Boulevard, and amNewYork reported about 11:10 a.m. at Linden Boulevard and Rockaway Avenue.
Official Crash Data
Collision ID
4883478
Date
March 5, 2026
Time
11:05 a.m.
Location
Rockaway Pkwy
Fatalities
1
Pedestrians killed
1
Vehicles listed
SUV, Station Wagon/Sport Utility Vehicle
A driver hit a child in a marked crosswalk and left
City crash data places the fatal crash at about 11:05 a.m. on Rockaway Parkway. The record says a northbound driver in a Ford SUV was going straight ahead when the driver hit a 4-year-old boy who was crossing in a marked crosswalk away from an intersection.
Police identified the child as Zachariah Padilla
Brooklyn Paper reported that police identified the boy as Zachariah Padilla, a 4-year-old area resident. amNewYork reported that his parents rushed him to Brookdale University Hospital, a short distance from the crash scene, but he could not be saved.
Police described a white Ford Explorer
The city record lists the involved vehicle as a Ford station wagon or sport utility vehicle, traveling north with one occupant. The record also lists impact and damage at the left front bumper and center front end. Press accounts, citing police, described the vehicle as a white Ford Explorer.
Reports center the crash on Rockaway Parkway near Linden Boulevard
The city record lists the crash on Rockaway Parkway in Brownsville. Brooklyn Paper described the location as a mid-block crosswalk across Rockaway Parkway just north of Linden Boulevard.
amNewYork reported a nearby but different location, describing the crash as occurring at Linden Boulevard and Rockaway Avenue. It also reported a time of about 11:10 a.m., while the city record lists 11:05 a.m.
Advocates called for a lower speed limit after the killing
Transportation Alternatives urged Mayor Zohran Mamdani's Department of Transportation to lower the speed limit on the Rockaway Parkway corridor from 25 to 20 miles per hour under Sammy's Law. The group said a speed camera at Rockaway Parkway and Linden Boulevard recorded 3,600 people speeding last year, averaging almost 10 drivers a day.
amNewYork reported on the day of the crash that no arrests had been made and that police were searching for the hit-and-run driver.