A 33-year-old man trying to cross a Bronx expressway was fatally struck by an unlicensed driver who fled — the third fatal hit-and-run crash in the city that day, cops said Sunday.
The victim was walking in the westbound lane of the Bruckner Expressway when he tried to cross the highway from north to south at exit 53 near White Plains Road just before 11:30 p.m. Saturday, police said.
He was struck by the driver of a dark-colored four-door sedan and died at the scene. The driver kept going.
The victim’s name was not immediately released.
Investigators found the car abandoned about a mile away near Watson and Colgate Aves.
Cops went on to arrest Shane Fernandez, 27, who they say was visiting the city from Kissimmee, Fla.. He is charged with leaving the scene of a fatal crash, driving without a license and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.
In March of 2014, Fernandez was pulled over in Orange County, Fl. while cruising at 75 miles per hour in a 45 mph zone. He was found to be driving with a suspended license, court records show. Then the following month, Fernandez was ticketed in Osceola County, Fl. for driving on the wrong side of a residential road.
Fernandez’s license was revoked after he failed to pay the fines for the tickets, the documents show.
His arraignment in Bronx Criminal Court was pending Sunday.
Police were still hunting for the drivers in two earlier fatal hit-and-run crashes Saturday.
In the first, a speeding SUV slammed into 63-year-old Dyral Brown as he crossed Nostrand Ave. at Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn about 3:15 a.m.
An hour and 15 minutes later, a man crossing the street near Broadway and W. 262nd St. in the Bronx was struck by the driver of a white Mercedes-Benz. Cops were still working to identify that victim Sunday.
As of Oct. 21, 94 pedestrians been killed citywide this year compared to 75 fatalities during the same time last year, according to NYPD statistics.
