Neighbor Mariya Ursachenko Killed In Sunday’s Crash In Midwood

MIDWOOD – Yesterday evening’s multiple car crash has killed neighbor Mariya Ursachenko, 58, a block from her home.

Sunday, July 5, about 20 minutes past 7 pm, neighbors called 911 to report a car crash that involved a pedestrian at the corner of Ocean Avenue and Avenue J.

Pedestrian Killed in Hit-and-Run Collision, Driver Apprehended @CitizenApp
Ave J & Ocean Ave Yesterday 7:21:42 PM EDT

The officers found the 58-year-old Ursachenko with head trauma on the side of the road. She was taken to Maimonides Medical Center, where she died from her injuries.

NYPD Highway District’s Collision Investigation Squad has so far determined that the vehicle that caused the crash that lead to Uraschenko’s death was a black 2015 Kia Optima, operated by a 25-year-old Mohammed Nasim of East 17th Street in Midwood. He was traveling southbound on Ocean Avenue within the turn lane, “at an apparent high rate of speed” when he run a steady red light at Avenue J and crashed into a 2015 Lexus E35 sedan, operated by a 26-year-old man traveling eastbound on Avenue J.

The Lexus then struck the pedestrian who was crossing within the south crosswalk, from west to east on Ocean Avenue, before rotating counter-clockwise and stopping in the northbound left-turn lane of Ocean Avenue.

The Kia Optima rotated clockwise and struck a 2019 Infiniti QX6 SUV, operated by a 38-year-old man traveling north in the left lane on Ocean Avenue.

Nasim attempted to flee on foot and was subsequently apprehended, NYPD informs, and was charged an hour later with

  • Manslaughter
  • Criminally Negligent Homicide
  • Vehicular Assault
  • Reckless Driving
  • Motor Vehicle Failure to Yield to a Pedestrian
  • Traffic Device Violation: Red Light
  • Failure to Exercise Due Care
  • Speed Violation

The operator of the Lexus was taken to Health + Hospitals/Coney Island in stable condition. The investigation remains ongoing.

“The area of the 70th Precinct comprising Ocean Avenue, Coney Island Avenue and Ocean Parkway — three streets with notorious speeding — is one of the most dangerous areas in the city,” Streetsblog reported. “In 2019 alone, in the 25-block zone centered on Avenue J, there were 392 crashes, injuring five cyclists, 32 pedestrians and 101 motorists, according to Crash Mapper. The single intersection in question — Avenue J at Ocean Avenue — has been the scene of 24 crashes since January, 2019, injuring four pedestrians and 21 motorists.”