BROOKLYN — An elderly man riding on an electric scooter was critically injured after a person driving an SUV struck him and then fled in Gravesend Wednesday afternoon, according to police.
The man, who is in his 70s, was riding on the side of the street at 25th Avenue and 85th Street at about 3:19 p.m., when the white SUV side-swiped him and then drove off, almost striking another pedestrian and then running a red light, an NYPD spokesman and witness said.
"For a couple minutes I was shocked. I saw [the elderly man's] face before the accident and then he was on the floor and he looked at me," said Jenifer Fahmy, 15, adding that the vehicle nearly hit her after slamming into the man.
"I said, 'Don't worry, everything is going to be fine, I'm going to call 911.'"
The man toppled off his scooter after getting hit and was bleeding from his head and leg, according to Fahmy.
He was taken to Lutheran Medical Center with life-threatening injures, a fire department spokesman said.
Fahmy's mother, Veronica Almaz, said cars often speed through the intersection.
"I'm scared," Almaz said. "I used to let my older daughter walk my younger daughter to karate, but now I won't."
The NYPD was investigating the incident.
