UPPER EAST SIDE — A prominent New Jersey golf coach was struck and killed by an Uber driver while crossing East 62nd Street with his girlfriend Saturday evening, NYPD said.
Wesley Mensing, a 27-year-old who was recently featured in Golf Digest as one of the best young golf teachers in America, was crossing the street between Lexington and Third avenues about 7:18 p.m. when an eastbound Uber Mercedes-Benz SUV struck him, officials said.
Mensing was holding hands with his 30-year-old girlfriend, who was hit as well. A group of witnesses rushed over to haul the car off the pair before emergency responders arrived, according to reports.
Mensing, a Scotch Plains, N.J. resident who works at the Plainfield Country Club, was pronounced dead at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, police said. His girlfriend was listed in stable condition at the same hospital.
Aliou Diallo, the SUV's 45-year-old driver, was en route to pick up a passenger when he hit Mensing, officials said.
He was ticketed for driving without a license, police said. Uber said in its statement, however, that the driver's license was "valid and active" at the time of the incident.
The driver, who is based out of Uber's Schmecken base, has completed 1,296 trips for the company and has a 4.86 out of 5 star rating, the company said in a statement.
Both the TLC and Uber have suspended him pending the outcome of the NYPD's investigation, officials said.
