3-Year-Old Killed By Pickup Truck Driver In E Harlem, Police Say

EAST HARLEM, NY — A young child was killed Monday after his stroller was struck by a pickup truck in East Harlem, an NYPD spokeswoman said.

A 25-year-old woman was walking with her 3-year-old son Bertin Dejesus on First Avenue and East 116th Street when they were hit by a Ford F-250 making a left turn in the intersection, an NYPD spokeswoman said. Police did not identify the mother. The collision occurred just before 10 a.m., police said.

Medics rushed the child to Metropolitan Hospital where he was pronounced dead, an NYPD spokeswoman said. The mother suffered minor injuries, police said.

Dejesus is the third child younger than six to be killed by a driver in New York City this year, according to safe streets advocacy group Transportation Alternatives. The total number of people killed by drivers is now 203, matching 2018's total, according to city statistics.

"Bertin’s death was a preventable tragedy. We demand that Mayor de Blasio will recognize the growing emergency on his streets, visit the scene of the crash, stand with Bertin’s family, and do whatever it takes to prevent another crash like this,"Transportation Alternatives Executive Director Danny Harris said in a statement.

Jaime Sabogal, 59, was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and failing to yield to a pedestrian or exercise due care, police said. The Yonkers man initially drove away from the scene of the crash, but stopped after being flagged down by witnesses, ABC New York's CeFann Kim reported. Police said that the driver had stayed on the scene of the collision.