Terrifying Near Miss At Deadly Ocean Parkway Intersection — And The City Says It Never Happened

Terrifying Near Miss At Deadly Ocean Parkway Intersection — And The City Says It Never Happened
Photo of crash by Aaron Mattocks

KENSINGTON – Last night there was another crash at the intersection of Ocean Parkway and Church Avenue, where a few weeks back, neighbor Faustino Garcia was killed.

This time, neighbor Aaron Mattocks tells us he barely escaped unscathed.

Meanwhile, the FDNY and NYPD claim to have no record of the incident, despite photographs Mattocks took to document it.

The crash took place just before 9:00pm last night, when a black Ford truck rammed into a white Lexus that had stopped at the red light at the intersection of Church and Ocean Parkway, propelling the Lexus into the intersection and just missing Mr. Mattocks who was crossing with a companion. They were crossing on what is considered the “safer side” (south side) of Church avenue to cross Ocean Parkway, before it becomes Prospect Expressway.

Both cars were on the North bound side of Ocean Parkway. Mr Mattocks called 911 at 8:59pm, and waited for the first responders, which were the Fire Department.

Photo of crash by Aaron Mattocks

Curiously, when we called the authorities to confirm, neither FDNY nor NYPD seem to have any record of this incident, even though the 911 call lasted 3 minutes. Neighbors also were streaming from the accident site last night using the Citizen app, where the video shows at least two FDNY trucks as having responded.

“I nearly died. Was the driver drunk, or texting? I called 911, waited until firemen arrived, asked to speak to the person in charge and demanded the driver … be given a breathalyzer test,” Mr. Mattocks emailed us and his elected representatives last night. Mr. Mattocks left the scene around 9:15pm, and said he almost called 911 again, as according to him, NYPD had not yet responded to the accident. DCPI does not provide information on minor accidents, we were told earlier today.

Mattocks also said he believed the driver “had fireman’s or police badges on his jacket” — something police could confirm or deny if they acknowledged the incident happened, as Mattocks has the vehicle’s license plate number.

Council Member Brad Lander, whose district includes this intersection, tweeted earlier today that there will be a community meeting about this intersection, hosted jointly with Assemblyman Carroll, with representatives from both NYC and NYS Departments of Transportation and 66th Police Precinct on Monday after next, April 9, at 7:30 pm at PS130 upper school at Caton Avenue and East 7th streets.