A 14-year-old boy was hit by a car and killed when the hooded sweatshirt he was wearing prevented him from seeing the driver as he dashed across a Brooklyn street to try and catch a school bus, police sources said.
Nicholas Soto was struck when he darted across Hicks Street and into oncoming traffic in Red Hook just before 7 a.m. Monday and was struck by a 2004 BMW that was traveling west on Lorraine Street, cops said.
“He came running through here, too busy, trying to catch the bus,” said Edward Austin, 54, who witnessed the tragic accident.
Austin said the boy was looking at the bus when ran into the intersection and failed to see the car coming from the opposite direction.
“The car came down, he was moving too damn fast,” he continued, referring to the driver. “The poor kid was bleeding through his eyes.”
The impact was so strong, it launched the boy’s body over a fence, leaving the car with shattered windshield.
Paramedics arrived on scene and tried to revive Soto, who lived just two blocks from where he was hit, before taking him to Methodist Hospital with severe head trauma.
He was pronounced dead a short time later.
Police sources said the boy’s vision may have been obstructed by his sweatshirt hood.
Local residents said speeding is a major problem in the area.
“We’re losing our kids out here because [drivers] think this is a damn highway,” fumed Alfredo Otero, 55.
Others said officials should scrap the speed bumps in the area and install more traffic lights to improve safety.
“This is not the first,” said a man who would only identify himself as Castro. “I seen three or four people get hit out here.”
“Speed bumps don’t do s–t,” he continued. “We need a light out here.”
The driver of the BMW remained on scene and and was issued a summons for having his windows tinted illegally. Police would not say if the driver was speeding.