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Father Fatally Crushed by Van While Moving It For Alternate-Side Parking

By  Ben Fractenberg and Trevor Kapp | January 23, 2017 1:24pm 

 Xin Zheng Lin, 52, was killed after getting out of his minivan while it was still in reverse  on West 7th Street in Gravesend, Brooklyn, and getting crushed against a tree, Jan. 23, 2017.
Xin Zheng Lin, 52, was killed after getting out of his minivan while it was still in reverse on West 7th Street in Gravesend, Brooklyn, and getting crushed against a tree, Jan. 23, 2017.
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DNAinfo/Trevor Kapp

GRAVESEND — A local store owner and father was fatally pinned between his minivan and a tree when the car rolled back while he was trying to move it for alternate-side parking Monday morning, police and witnesses said.

Xin Zheng Lin, 52, was backing his Toyota minivan out of a parking spot in front of 1748 W. 7th. St. near Kings Highway at about 9:47 a.m. when he got out of the van thinking it was in park while it was still in reverse, an NYPD spokesman said.

The van rolled backward and Lin, who owned and worked at a 99 cent store around the corner on Kings Highway, got pinned between the vehicle's door and a tree, officials and witnesses said.

"Firefighters were trying to resuscitate him. They were working on him doing chest compressions and pumping oxygen. He wasn’t responding," said Mark Sarachik, 55, who has known Lin for about 10 years. 

"There was blood coming out of his mouth. I was consoling his wife. She was crying and screaming."

The 52-year-old suffered head trauma and was taken to Coney Island Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, officials said.

Sarachik, who also works on Kings Highway, said Lin had managed the store for about 10 years and was a "really good neighbor who took care of you." 

Lin was moving his vehicle for alternate side parking when he was crushed, Sarachik added. 

Sarachik's sister-in-law, Sydney Sarachik, said Lin would bring his young son into a local pet store to look at the birds. 

"He was very affectionate with his son. He'd sit him on the counter inside his store and play with little toys with him," Sydney said. "They seemed really close. This is just horrible."

There were no other vehicles involved in the collision and the NYPD was investigating the death.