Accident; Vehicle Fatally Strikes Bicyclist, leaves 3 others injured in Brooklyn

A driver in an out-of-control SUV on Monday rear-ended an Uber car near the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, took off into oncoming traffic and hit and killed a bicyclist, witnesses said.

“I saw the car coming. He was racing against the light,” said Abdul Abdelkader, 16, who was sitting outside his father's coffee cart when the Honda Pilot came speeding toward him. “I just went running. There were people screaming and running.”

The bicyclist, in his 30s, was killed, and one person was seriously injured, cops said. Two people were treated for minor injuries.

The mayhem unfolded over more than three blocks along Fourth Ave. between Dean St. and Flatbush Ave. in Boerum Hill about 7 a.m. The chain-reaction crash started when the SUV rear-ended Uber driver Zakaria Sharhan’s Toyota Camry at Dean St.

“He was going very fast, 50 miles an hour,” said Sharhan, who was on his first trip of the day.

“He hit us and kept on going,” Sharhan said. “He was up on the sidewalk, and crosses the median and went against traffic.”

 

He said two of his passengers were taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

After hitting Sharhan’s car, the SUV driver then struck and killed the cyclist on Fourth Ave., hitting him head-on around Pacific St. and launching him into the air, cops said.

“I heard this bang when the cars first hit, then a thud,” said Joseph Weaver, a 41-year-old retired Marine who witnessed the crash. “I look up and see the biker go up in the air, eight or 10 feet. He's flying.”

Weaver said the light was out at Atlantic Ave. so cops were already there, directing traffic.

The victim, whose identity wasn’t immediately released, fell to the ground at Flatbush Ave., his white T-shirt soaked in blood. He had a spiderweb tattoo on his left elbow.

After hitting him, the SUV driver slammed into the side of a Mitsubishi and crashed into a steel pole before coming to rest in front of the LIRR entrance at Fourth Ave. and Flatbush Ave.

The driver of the Mitsubishi, whose identity wasn’t revealed, was taken to the hospital in serious condition, cops and witnesses said.

“This all happened in a matter of seconds, one thing after another, boom, boom, boom,” said Weaver.

He said he thought the driver was trying to flee after rear-ending the Toyota because he backed up before taking off. Police sources said the man told cops he had a medical condition.

The 37-year-old SUV driver, who was not immediately identified, remained on the scene. 

Issam Abdelkader, 52, Abdul's father, was in his coffee cart when he said he saw the SUV barreling toward him.

"I was in shock,” he said. “I couldn't move ... I was in shock. I don't know why ... Why are people in such a rush?"

Mario Garcia, 44, was handing out copies of Metro outside Atlantic Terminal when he saw the wreck unfold.

“I heard two big bangs at about 7,” he said. “This car goes flying down the street and hits this pole right here. Debris goes flying. Look, you can see the bumper all the way down there."