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Man Killed by Tractor-Trailer Delivering to Key Food, NYPD Says

By  Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska and Aidan Gardiner | May 21, 2014 10:11am | Updated on May 21, 2014 4:08pm

 A man was killed when a tractor-trailer hit him in Forest Hills Wednesday morning, a witness said.
A man was killed when a tractor-trailer hit him in Forest Hills Wednesday morning, a witness said.
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DNAinfo/Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska

FOREST HILLS — A man was killed when a tractor-trailer that had just made a delivery at Key Food backed into him in the supermarket's parking lot Wednesday morning, officials said.

Elliot Mintzer, 67, was walking through the supermarket's lot at 105-35 64th Road, near Yellowstone Boulevard, when the tractor-trailer hit him about 9 a.m., said witnesses and an NYPD spokesman.

A Key Food customer ran inside and asked someone to call 911, according to cashier Erica Agosto.

"He was under the truck. He wasn't pinned under anything," Agosto said. "His jacket was frayed on the front with a little gravel on it. His face was turning blue. He wasn't breathing."

A man raced over and tried to find Mintzer's pulse, but couldn't, Agosto added. He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

The truck's driver, who was not immediately charged with the traffic fatality and had 25 years experience, remained on the scene, according to police and his co-worker.

"He was very upset," Agosto said.

The driver's colleague, who asked not to be identified, said the two had already made five drop-offs that morning and had seven more to go.

The colleague, who is also the driver's cousin, was inside the Key Food, finalizing their delivery, when he heard screams and ran out, he said.

He didn't know why his cousin was backing up the truck.

Mintzer was killed amid a 48-hour police crackdown on speeding as part of a citywide effort to reduce the amount of traffic fatalities and injuries.

Police don't believe any criminality was involved in Wednesday's death.

A fellow driver with the Hadja Corp., which owns the truck that was involved, couldn't provide any further details when reached by phone. Key Food did not immediately comment.