MTA Bus Hits, Kills Woman in Crosswalk in Queens: Police

An MTA bus struck and killed a 59-year-old woman in the crosswalk as she tried to cross a Queens street over the weekend, authorities say.

Police say the woman was trying to cross Kessel Street near 71st Avenue in Forest Hills shortly before 8 a.m. Sunday when the Q23 bus made a left turn and hit her.

The woman, identified as Leyla Enukasvili, of Queens, was found with severe head trauma on the pavement. She was taken to the hospital in critical condition and died later that day.

The 52-year-old MTA bus driver remained at the scene. No arrests have been made. 

The MTA said it had no comment on the accident, given the ongoing nature of the investigation.  

The Queens accident came two days before another MTA bus hit and killed a 70-year-old woman as she tried to cross a street in Brooklyn. That bus, which was not in service at the time, drove off after hitting the woman, leaving her body and mangled blue walker in the middle of the road.

Disturbing surveillance video shows the woman in a green sweatshirt standing on the side of the road at Fulton and Sackman streets in the Ocean Hill section of Brooklyn, waiting for cars to go by.

As she starts to use her walker to move across the street, the bus pulls into the intersection from across the street and moves to make a left turn in her direction. The bus plows into her just as she crosses the double yellow line, sending both the woman and her walker flying. The bus stops briefly, the video shows, then pulls around the victim and drives off down the street.

The driver, Paul Roper, was returning to the East New York depot after finishing a B15 run at the time of the crash, according to the MTA. The MTA said Roper been suspended without pay pending the outcome of the investigation.

Roper was charged Tuesday with leaving the scene of an accident, a felony, failure to yield and other traffic offenses. He said nothing as he was led from the police precinct. It wasn't immediately clear if he had an attorney.

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