Ambulance driver hit and killed Cherry Cayetano Sobel in Midwood
She Left Happy
At 6:36 a.m. on April 2, 2026, a driver in an ambulance made a left turn at Ocean Avenue and Avenue O and hit 44-year-old Cherry Cayetano Sobel; police later identified Michael Gontar as the driver and charged him with failure to yield and failure to exercise due care.
What We Know
Cherry Cayetano Sobel, 44, was crossing at Ocean Avenue and Avenue O in Brooklyn on the morning of April 2, 2026, when a driver in an ambulance made a left turn and hit her. The city crash record lists one pedestrian killed and cites failure to yield. News reports identified the ambulance as a Maimonides Medical Center vehicle and said the driver continued after the crash. Maimonides said staff involved were suspended pending the NYPD investigation. Nearly three months later, police charged ambulance driver Michael Gontar with failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to exercise due care.
A left turn at Ocean Avenue and Avenue O
The city crash record places the crash at 6:36 a.m. on April 2, 2026, at Ocean Avenue and Avenue O in Brooklyn. News reports citing police and law enforcement sources put the time around 6:38 to 6:40 a.m.
The official record says the ambulance driver was making a left turn and lists failure to yield right-of-way as a contributing factor. It also records that the 44-year-old pedestrian was at the intersection and crossing with the signal when she was killed.
Surveillance-based reports said the driver continued after hitting Cherry Cayetano Sobel. Early police statements described the case as a hit-and-run investigation, while some reports said detectives were considering whether the driver realized he had hit someone.
Cherry Cayetano Sobel was a nurse and mother of two
Police identified the woman who died as Cherry Cayetano Sobel, 44, of Brooklyn. A family friend and her husband told reporters she was a registered nurse and mother of two.
Her husband told the New York Post that she was on her way to work on a familiar route. “It was a regular day for her. She left for work happy. She took that route many times,” he said.
Maimonides suspended staff as police investigated
Reports identified the ambulance as a private Maimonides Medical Center ambulance. Maimonides said staff involved in the incident were suspended pending the NYPD investigation.
The hospital said, “The Maimonides family is devastated by this tragic loss. Our EMT staff who were involved in the incident have been suspended pending the outcome of the NYPD's investigation. Our heart goes out to the victim's family and friends.”
Police later charged the ambulance driver
In July, police charged Michael Gontar, 42, with failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to exercise due care. The Daily News reported that Gontar turned himself in at the 61st Precinct station house.
News12 reported that the charges came nearly three months after the crash and that Gontar was in police custody. Earlier reports had said no arrests were made immediately after the crash.
Ocean Avenue has a documented pedestrian safety record
The crash happened at Ocean Avenue and Avenue O in Midwood. Streetsblog, citing Crash Count mapping, reported 12 crashes at that intersection in the prior year, injuring 10 people, including four pedestrians.
Streetsblog also reported that the city Department of Transportation designated Ocean Avenue a Vision Zero priority corridor after four pedestrians were killed and 24 were seriously injured there from 2017 through 2021. Gothamist separately reported that Ocean Avenue had been listed among DOT priority corridors for Vision Zero safety improvements.