Hit & Run
The search continues today for a hit and run driver who killed a 30-year-old Harlem law student. Officials say Kris Bellamkonda was helping his girlfriend, who was on crutches, cross Lenox Avenue at 122nd Street when a Sport Utility Vehicle struck him.
It happened early Saturday morning shortly after the couple got out of a cab. Bellamkonda walked onto Lenox Avenue to try and stop traffic to allow her to cross the street.
"It was raining," said Derek Hill, Bellamkonda's brother-in-law, in an interview with the New York Times. "He wanted to make sure she was safe getting to her apartment. He was leading the way."
At around 4:15 am an S.U.V. struck Bellamkonda. A witness told WABC 7, "Once he hit the guy, he stepped on the brakes and the guy went up in the air. He fell back onto the hood of the car and he stepped on the pedal again to take off." Another witness said that cars go way too fast in the area and run lights. The way cars speed during early hours makes us crazy - there are way too many incidents of this.
Bellamkonda was in his second year at Cardoza Law School and was renovating a brownstone on West 131st Street.
posted by Rachel Natalie Klein at 7:56 AM
9 Comments:
I've noticed the speeding cars since moving to Harlem a few years ago, particularly along 125th street it's dangerous and law enforcement should be monitoring this.
In NY, an orange street light means speed up, you might just make it before the light turns red.
We need enforcement/cameras for two reasons.
1) Save lives
2) Collect taxes from these law breaking morons
anyone have suggestions on how we can step up pressure on the police to do something about this? im new to the area, so im not sure how much people have already been trying to no avail. ideas?
God I hate the way people drive up there. They also do it in certain parts of Brooklyn and Queens, they just go tearing down residential streets. If a little kid runs in front of one of these cars, forget it. They can barely stop for lights. Everyone caught going more than 10 mph over the speed limit in a residential area should just have their friggin' license revoked, period.
Wow, this is sad news indeed. They do drive entirely too fast in the area and not only that, routinely ignore traffic laws.
The other downside is that people don't report anything. Sure, someone witnessed it, but they sure as hell won't say who did it. The sadly reality: in the hood "snitches lie in ditches" resonates louder than "if you see something, say something."
i've just bought near this area. 2002 5th ave. wonder if there's anything that residents can do? are the police just tied up dealing w/other issues? i remember a few years ago someone was killed by a speeding car on houston street and they made changes to the lights and lanes down there to try to fix the problem (speeding cars heading to the highway) in the end, all that worked was staging cops in radar traps. something as rare as an angel in NYC.
FYI i think there already are enforecement cameras on lenox and 125th but they face uptown.
God bless him.
Just a note: it is Cardozo not "Cardoza."
I lived at 123rd & Lenox for years, and cars and motorcycles were always racing up and down Lenox Ave. The amount of time allowed pedestrians to cross Lenox is not enough.
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