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Pedestrian Killed and Driver Arrested after Car Hops Curb in Flatbush: NYPD

By  Trevor Kapp Aidan Gardiner and Ben Fractenberg | November 10, 2015 8:29am | Updated on November 10, 2015 5:30pm

 The man, 50, was hit by a Nissan Senrta outside 994 Flatbush Ave., police said.
The man, 50, was hit by a Nissan Senrta outside 994 Flatbush Ave., police said.
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DNAinfo/Trevor Kapp

BROOKLYN — A man chatting on his cellphone on the sidewalk was crushed to death under an out-of-control car that hopped the curb in Flatbush Monday afternoon, police said. 

Kinyeti Charles, 50, who can be seen in surveillance footage walking past 994 Flatbush Ave., near Albemarle Road, about 5:27 p.m. was fatally struck when Paul Omoregie, 58, lost control of the vehicle, NYPD officials said.

Charles passes a woman who pauses to look in her bag when the black Nissan Sentra careens onto the sidewalk and he tries to move out of the way, but can't, the video shows.

Omoregie was later arrested and charged with driving without a license and aggravated unlicensed operator.

(Warning: graphic video. The footage has been edited.)

"I was taking an order and heard a loud thump sound," said Nia Pierce, 20, who works at a food catering business across from the crash. "I saw the tree in the air. A car was flipped over. There was a guy completely under the car."

"He was gushing blood from his head. People were trying to talk to him and say, 'Are you OK?' but he wasn't responding. His eyes were moving at one point, but then they stopped," Pierce said.

Another passerby said said he saw flickers of movement as well.

"He was on his back. After a little while, his head turned to the right. It looked like he was breathing, but then he stopped. Blood was coming out of the left side of his head," said Amadou Doucoure, 51.

Charles, who lived in East Flatbush, was pronounced dead at Kings County Hospital, police said.

Passersby also tried to help Omoregie and his 3-year-old passenger, witnesses said.

"Other drivers stopped and tried to pull the driver out of the car. Paramedics came and took him out on a stretcher," Pierce said.

"There was another little boy in the car with the driver. He was in his car seat. He got out. The cops were hugging him and giving him kisses. They had his Thomas the Tank backpack and a sippy cup," she added.

The pair were taken to the same hospital where they were listed in stable condition, police said. Their relationship was not immediately clear.

Pierce said the crash was shocking and unexpected.

"I'd never seen anything like that. You see cars flipped over on the news, but when you see it in person, it's like, 'Wow!'" she said.

The fatal crash is the latest in a slew of similar incidents. Eleven other people have been killed in road accidents between Oct. 31 and Nov. 9, officials said.

The mayor, however, insisted his plan to reduce pedestrian deaths to zero is working.

"It has been a tough week, a very, very tough week," Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a recent press conference.

"It's a reminder of why Vision Zero is here to begin with."

Omoregie was expected to be arraigned in Brooklyn Criminal Court Tuesday night.