MANHATTAN — Police arrested a taxi driver Thursday, a day after his fare fell out of her seat and onto Lexington Avenue where she was fatally struck by another taxi that also left the hit-and-run scene, police said.
Police tracked down Azizur Mazumder, a 46 year old from Parkchester, after he drove away from the scene in his Toyota Camry. He was arrested for leaving the hit-and-run along with reckless endangerment, NYPD officials said Thursday.
The second taxi driver, who actually struck the unidentified woman who's believed to be homeless, hadn't been arrested as of Thursday morning, police said.
That second driver driver was heading south on Lexington Avenue and just passed East 69th Street when he hit the woman minutes after 5 a.m. Wednesday, police said. The driver then turned left on East 68th Street and left the scene, police said.
“I saw a woman laying on the street — mangled. She was bleeding profusely — blood coming out of her head," said Alberto De La Cruz, 53, who was nearby and visited the crash scene when he noticed police.
"How could a human being do that and just drive away? Heartless," he added.
The woman, who investigators believe is in her 30s, was pronounced dead at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, police said.
Investigators believe she opened her taxi's door herself and tumbled into the road, but an NYPD spokesman wasn't able to say how they knew that.
Police said their investigation continues.
Anyone with information should contact Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS (8477).
