Sunset Park resident killed in Bath Beach hit-and-run

BATH BEACH — A 26-year-old Sunset Park was struck and killed in Bath Beach in a hit and run on Sunday morning.

According to authorities, on Sunday, Feb. 23 at around 7:25 a.m., Jose Contla was crossing at 19th Avenue and 86th Street when the car, a black VW Passat traveling southbound on 19th Avenue, struck him. 

The driver didn’t stop.

When officers arrived, they saw Contla laying on the sidewalk with severe trauma to the body . EMS rushed him to Maimonides Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

“Another fatal hit & run around 86th St,” wrote Councilmember Mark Treyger on Twitter. “These are preventable tragedies. NYPD must step up & sustain enforcement against reckless & dangerous drivers. DOT needs to advance basic street safety designs with greater sense of urgency, which this crisis demands.”

Assemblymember Mathylde Frontus, whose friend was killed a few weeks ago in a hit-and-run in Brighton Beach, noted that, “Since then, there have been dozens of other fatalities across NYC especially here in Southern Brooklyn.

“I am angry that pedestrians continue to lose their lives due to the reckless driving of others,” she tweeted. “Enough is enough. I will be supporting any new measures to impose stricter penalties for drivers who leave the scene of an accident.”

“Just heartbreaking,” added State Sen. Andrew Gounardes. “Another family torn apart by traffic violence. This driver needs to be found and brought to justice.”

But, Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis contended that the recent bail reform law would mean that the driver, if found, would be released without bail. “Vehicular manslaughter is included in the list of crimes in which bail is no longer allowed,” she told this paper, “even after he fled the scene, even if he was unlicensed. This has already occurred in other parts of the state. A young mother of three on Christmas Eve, a nine-year-old boy, a medical student all killed by unlicensed or drunk drivers who have been released without bail. If they don’t return to court, their won’t be justice for these families. Where’s the justice in that?”

The investigation is ongoing by the New York City Police Department’s Highway Patrol Collision Investigation Squad.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at www.nypdcrimestoppers.com, on Twitter @NYPDTips.

All calls are kept strictly confidential.