The woman fatally mowed down by thugs after they ripped off an Upper West Side drugstore was an acclaimed film editor who worked on the Oscar-winning documentary “The Fog of War.”
Karen Schmeer, 39, of Boston, was crossing Broadway between West 90th and 91st streets Friday night when the getaway car, a rented 2010 Dodge Avenger, pinned her against a double-parked vehicle, sending her groceries flying.
Schmeer, whose editing of “The Fog of War,” about former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, helped earn an Oscar for director Errol Morris, was in town working on a film, said her father, Michael.
She was staying with a friend on West 89th Street and editing an HBO movie about the late chess great Bobby Fischer.
“I’ve known Karen for a very long time, and she was my finest editor,” Morris told The Post yesterday. “She was immensely talented. It’s a huge loss.”
The devastation was felt all the way to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, where attendees honored Schmeer at last night’s award ceremony.
Her father, a lawyer in Portland, Ore., last saw her at Christmastime.
“She lived a nomadic life,” he said, struggling for words between sobs. “She would go where the film was and give it everything she had until it was done.
“She always had this passion for film. She worked as an usher at a movie theater here in Portland while she was in high school.”
Her other editing credits include “Fast, Cheap & Out of Control,” also directed by Morris, and “Sergio,” about Sergio de Mello, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights killed in Baghdad. She won a best-editing award for that film at last year’s Sundance.
David McKie, 25, of Brooklyn, was caught fleeing the scene and charged with second-degree murder in Manhattan Supreme Court. His two alleged cohorts are being sought.
“I wasn’t the driver,” McKie, whose lengthy rap sheet includes several theft- and drug-related charges, said as he was led from the 24th Precinct station house.
The three bandits had just swiped over-the-counter drugs from the CVS at 86th and Amsterdam at 7:30 p.m. when they jumped into their car, sources said.
Cops tried to pull them over at 94th and Broadway, but they sped off south, crashing into another car before striking Schmeer.
“She was one of the most talented documentary filmmakers working in the field today,” said Greg Barker, who directed “Sergio.”
“In a field with massive egos, Karen did her job with exceptional grace and kindness toward her colleagues.
“She’s a great loss to this community.”