A 56-year-old woman walking home with bags of groceries was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver in a crosswalk in Brooklyn Tuesday morning, police say.
Francine Labarbara was struck down in the crosswalk on Avenue Y in the Gravesend neighborhood. Police say a white Ford Econoline van traveling south on West 2nd Street was trying to turn left onto Avenue Y when it hit the woman around 8 a.m.
She was taken to Coney Island Hospital with trauma to the head and body, and was pronounced dead.
Labarbara, a single mother of twin teenage sons, was beloved in her Brooklyn neighorhood. She was marketing director at the Brooklyn Bagel Store in Williamsburg.
"Oh her laugh, her laugh. She was great," said store owner Scot Rossillo.
"It's heartbreaking," said neighbor Anna Salluscio. "I can't imagine losing my mother."
Neighbors say the three-way intersection is treacherous, despite the stop signs.
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"I almost got clipped twice last weekend," said Anthony Brunetti. "What they do is, they roll up like they're gonna stop and then hit the gas."
He was disgusted by how his neighbor died.
"Not even an animal you leave on the floor like that," he said.
