Ambulance driver charged after fatal Midwood crash
She Left Happy
Driver Michael Gontar was turning a Maimonides ambulance onto Ocean Avenue at Avenue O when he struck Cherry Cayetano Sobel, 44, according to police reports; the official record logs the fatal crash at 6:36 a.m. on April 2, 2026, and records Sobel crossing with the signal.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
At 6:36 a.m. on April 2, 2026, driver Michael Gontar was turning a Maimonides ambulance at Ocean Avenue and Avenue O when he struck 44-year-old pedestrian Cherry Cayetano Sobel; reports said the driver continued driving. Police later charged Gontar with failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to exercise due care. Maimonides suspended him and another responder, and reports differed on whether he realized he had struck her.
Reports differ on how the crossing unfolded.
The official record places the crash at 6:36 a.m. on April 2 at Ocean Avenue and Avenue O, records one pedestrian killed, and says Sobel was crossing with the signal. It lists failure to yield right-of-way as a contributing factor.
News 12 described footage as showing a person stepping into the street as the ambulance driver turned onto Ocean Avenue. The Daily News described video showing traffic waiting for the light to change, then the driver turning as Sobel attempted to cross. Both outlets reported that the driver continued after the collision.
ABC7 reported that detectives believed the driver likely did not realize he had hit someone. NY1 reported that police said it was too early to tell whether he realized it.
A witness told CBS they thought Sobel had died at the scene; CBS and ABC7 reported that she was taken to Maimonides Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.
Sobel was a nurse and mother of two.
Sobel’s husband, Jeff, told the New York Post she was on her way to work along her regular route. “She left for work happy,” he said.
A friend told the Daily News that Sobel was a registered nurse who helped rehabilitate people with serious injuries. The friend said they jogged together the day before the crash and that she had talked about traveling abroad to help injured refugees.
Roadwork and a documented safety history.
The crash happened at Ocean Avenue and Avenue O in Midwood. The Daily News reported that the road was being repaved and no crosswalk was visible where Sobel was struck. NBC New York described its video as showing her crossing in a crosswalk.
Streetsblog reported that the city designated Ocean Avenue a Vision Zero priority corridor after four pedestrians were killed and 24 were seriously injured there between 2017 and 2021.
Charges came nearly three months later.
The Daily News reported that Gontar, 42, turned himself in and was charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to exercise due care. The report said Maimonides suspended Gontar and another emergency responder; a hospital spokesman later said Gontar remained suspended without pay pending an investigation.