Police searched for BMW driver after fatal Flatlands cyclist crash.
Always There
A BMW driver left after a collision at East 54th Street and Avenue I in Flatlands that killed a 40-year-old cyclist, according to police accounts reported by local outlets.
Reported by press, not yet linked to NYC police crash records. This may change when new official records become available or when matching details are reviewed.
Location under review.
What We Know
A BMW driver left after a collision with a cyclist at East 54th Street and Avenue I in Flatlands, police accounts reported by local outlets say. Reports differ on who was turning: Streetsblog and the Daily News said the cyclist was turning, while Gothamist said the driver was turning. Reports place the crash between 11:49 and about 11:50 p.m. Thursday. The Daily News's August 21 account describes the crash as Thursday night, making August 20 an inferred date rather than one explicitly given in that account. News reports spell the cyclist's name as Mamadou Diallo and Mamadu Diallo. His friend Abdoulaye Barry told the Daily News that Diallo made deliveries to support relatives in West Africa.
Police accounts differ on who was turning.
Streetsblog, citing an NYPD spokesman, reported that an eastbound BMW driver struck the cyclist head-on as he attempted to turn south from Avenue I onto East 54th Street. The Daily News also said the cyclist was turning, describing him as heading west and making a left onto East 54th Street. Gothamist gave a different account, saying the driver and cyclist were traveling in opposite directions and the driver was turning left. The reports do not resolve the difference.
Streetsblog reported 11:49 p.m.; the Daily News and Gothamist reported about 11:50 p.m. The Daily News's August 21 account describes the crash as Thursday night, making August 20 an inferred date rather than one explicitly given in that account.
News12 described the BMW as a dark-colored sedan; other reports identify it as a BMW without specifying a subtype. The Daily News reported that the cyclist was thrown into a parked Honda CR-V, and News12 said the parked car was unoccupied. News12 reported that paramedics took him to Brookdale Hospital, where he died; Gothamist said he was pronounced dead there.
Diallo supported relatives through delivery work.
Streetsblog and News12 identify the cyclist as Mamadou Diallo, 40, of Canarsie; the Daily News spells his first name Mamadu. His friend and roommate Abdoulaye Barry told the Daily News that he and Diallo had immigrated from Guinea about three years earlier and lived together in Canarsie. Barry said Diallo used his delivery earnings to support his parents and relatives in West Africa.
Barry told the Daily News that Diallo was minutes from the end of his shift. “He’s a hard worker,” Barry said, speaking in French through a translator.
Police sought the driver after he left.
The Daily News reported that the BMW driver did not remain at the scene and was still being sought on Friday. Police were canvassing the area for surveillance footage, the newspaper reported.