A hit-and-run driver mowed down a beloved Queens grandfather who went for a walk early today, police said.
Carlos Carlo, 65, was crossing the intersection of Rockaway Boulevard and 137th Avenue in Rochdale when a dark-colored sedan in the right lane struck him about 12:30 a.m., cops said.
The cold-hearted driver sped off before police even arrived at the scene, authorities said.
EMS rushed Carlo, who lived nearby, to Jamaica Hospital, but he could not be saved.
His devastated daughter, who should have been celebrating her birthday today, had to say goodbye to her father instead.
The hospital called Melissa Martin, 44, and told her to come as quickly as possible—and said they had been trying to resuscitate him, but he was unresponsive.
“When I saw him, he was already gone, he was already gone,” said Melissa Martin, 44. “I started crying. I kissed him on the cheek, I said ‘Daddy.’”
Carlo had begun to take regular walks to cope with heart problems, she said. He was hit when he was heading home from a walk.
Martin said that her father overcame diabetes and lowered his cholesterol by walking, and improving his diet.
He had a lot to live for—including his 20-year-old granddaughter Samantha, who hoped to work in EMS. He also loved to watch black-and-white movies, and read mystery novels—particularly books by James Patterson and Tom Clancy.
He was looking forward to celebrating his daughter’s birthday, and the family had a party planned.
“How could you take my Daddy away from me?” said Martin. “How could you take away a Grandpa away from his grandkids? How could you have no morals and drive away? You hurt a human being, not an animal.”