A Brooklyn teacher was left with a serious head injury after a driver struck her while she was crossing the street and didn't stop.
Police are searching for the driver of a black Nissan sedan that ran down 67-year-old Dorothy Gargano at the corner of Union Street and Classon Avenue in Crown Heights just after noon on Tuesday.
Video released by the NYPD shows Gargano attempting to cross the street when a car turns the corner and strikes her. The beloved Brooklyn teacher who neighbors described as a kind and sweet person was thrown into the air and on top of the vehicle, and the driver just kept going.
Police say Gargano was transported to NY-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital in critical condition with injuries to her head and shoulder.
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Gargano's neighbor in Marine Park says she spoke to her husband the day the incident occurred and he said he was heartbroken.
"She’s the best kindest person I ever met in this neighborhood…and I am being honest," Zhanna Karpova said. "The whole neighborhood is like heartbroken really."
Scott Ecock says he has been Gargano's neighbor for almost 20 years and he's sad and upset about what happened.
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"It’s so sad, it’s so needless. There’s no need…a person crossing the street you gotta worry about getting hit by a car," Ecock told News 4.
Neighbors say they want the driver to turn themself in to police. Anyone with information is asked to contact the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
