Williamsburg, Greenpoint & Bushwick

Crime & Mayhem

Cycling Enthusiast Killed by Hit-and-Run Driver in Williamsburg, Police Say

July 5, 2016 11:43am | Updated July 5, 2016 11:43am
Cyclist Killed in 90th Precinct
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WILLIAMSBURG — An avid cyclist riding in a bike lane was killed by a hit-and-run driver over the weekend, according to police. 

Emergency workers were called to 690 Grand St., between Manhattan and Graham avenues, at 2:37 a.m. Saturday and found Matthew Von Ohlen, 35, an avid biker and bartender, lying in the road with severe trauma to his body, police said.

Von Ohlen was rushed to Bellevue Hospital and soon pronounced dead, police said. 

Police are now hunting for the driver of a black Chevy Camaro with tinted windows who ran over Von Ohlen after striking him, leaving him to die in the street.

Von Ohlen, a Minneapolis native and Queens resident, worked as a bartender at Apotheke in Chinatown and co-founded the company Bikestock, which offers 24-hour bike-repair vending machines with three locations in North Brooklyn.

"Matthew lives and breathes cycling," his bio on the company's website reads. "Matthew sees biking as a way to stay fit and to decrease his environmental impact, and is a strong advocate of year-round ridership."

Workers at Apotheke and Bikestock didn't immediately return requests for comment.

A group of friends planned to celebrate Von Ohlen's life at Calexico NYC on Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint on Tuesday night. Von Ohlen used to work as a bartender there, according to his Linkedin profile.

Anyone with information about the hit and run driver is asked to call NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 800-577-TIPS.

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