UPPER EAST SIDE — A homeless woman was fatally struck by a yellow cab driver who fled the scene after the crash on Lexington Avenue early Wednesday morning, police said.
The unidentified victim, who may be in her 30s, stepped into the road on Lexington Avenue north of East 68th Street about 5:10 a.m. when she was struck, an NYPD spokesman and witness said. The cab's driver has not been caught as of Wednesday morning, police said.
Alberto De La Cruz, 53, who was working at a food cart on East 69th Street when he noticed police cars, went to investigate and saw the woman in the street.
“I saw a woman laying on the street — mangled," the worker said. "She was bleeding profusely — blood coming out of her head. I felt devastated, helpless. How could a human being do that and just drive away?”
The woman was pronounced dead at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell, officials said.
A lighted sign on Lexington Avenue between East 68th Street and East 69th Street solicited tips from southbound drivers Wednesday morning.
Two other people were injured, one seriously, when a vehicle overturned nearby at 76th Street and Madison Avenue and about 6:30 a.m., according to the FDNY and video of the scene.
Police did not have any immediate details on how the vehicle overturned or if any of the victims were pedestrians or in another vehicle.
Anyone with information on the hit-and-run should contact Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477).
