SAD INCIDENCE ON AMERICA MOTHER’S DAY:

Stolen Truck Driver pins Nigerian Mother of Four, FLORENCE NGWU to two vehicles, crushed victim to death in New York

… Incident occurred around 8:33 a.m. March 8 at 120th Avenue and 167th Street, within the 113th Precinct

*“EMS responded and transported the 49-year-old female victim to Jamaica Hospital after she sustained trauma to the body. She was in critical condition. On Monday afternoon it became known that the victim, Florence Ngwu, had died”-NYPD Spokeswoman

*“I am profoundly saddened to hear that Florence Ngwu … a mom of four, who was hit by a stolen dump truck in Jamaica on Mother’s Day passed away this morning. My thoughts and prayers are with her family during this difficult time. This death was the result of a senseless hit-and-run, which could have been prevented. Now the victim’s family and children have to suffer the consequences. This is just an awful situation”-State Senator James Sanders Jr. (D-South Ozone Park)

*BY GEORGE ELIJAH OTUMU/AMERICAN Senior Investigative Editor

The NIGERIAN Community in New York, United States are mourning. The African community has been so sad to hear about the death of a 49-year-old woman who was killed after being pinned between two vehicles when a driver in a stolen truck crashed into multiple cars on Mother’s Day in South Jamaica, New York.

The sad incident occurred around 8:33 a.m. March 8 at 120th Avenue and 167th Street, within the 113th Precinct, according to an NYPD spokeswoman. 

“EMS responded and transported the female to Jamaica Hospital,” after she sustained trauma to the body. She was in critical condition”,said the spokeswoman. 

On Monday afternoon it became known that the victim, Florence Ngwu, had died.

State Sen. James Sanders Jr. (D-South Ozone Park) issued a statement on Monday.

“I am profoundly saddened to hear that Florence Ngwu … a mom of four, who was hit by a stolen dump truck in Jamaica on Mother’s Day passed away this morning,” Sanders said. “My thoughts and prayers are with her family during this difficult time. This death was the result of a senseless hit-and-run, which could have been prevented. Now the victim’s family and children have to suffer the consequences. This is just an awful situation.”

Ngwu, a nurse, was from Enugu, Nigeria, according to her Facebook page. She was married in 2016. She also went by Ebere Igwe. 

In a video obtained by NY1, the driver of the stolen truck backs up into a parked white BMW several times as three neighbors dressed in their night clothes try to wave him down to stop crashing into cars on the block. One neighbor puts her hand on her head and then pulls out her cellphone. Ngwu waves a traffic cone at the truck.

The driver then backs up into the edge of a driveway on the opposite side of the road and rams a second vehicle as he tries to pull out, which then collides into the three neighbors, leaving Ngwu pinned.

“Pray,” neighbor Sharon Brown said to NY1. “Pray that she can sustain.”

The truck was a 2019 Ford F550 and the second vehicle it struck was a 2017 Chevrolet Equinox, which was parked and unoccupied, according to a preliminary report by the NYPD. The collision pinned the victim between the Equinox and a 2021 Dodge Charger. The driver fled the scene and the vehicle, which was reported stolen earlier in the day, was later recovered unattended at 108th Avenue and 164th Place in Jamaica. 

The NYPD’s Highway Collision Investigation Squad is on the case. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1 (800) 577-TIPS (8477), or, for Spanish, 1 (888) 57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit tips by logging onto nypdcrimestoppers.com, or by texting 274637 (CRIMES) and then entering TIP577, or by going to the @nypdtips account on Twitter. All tips are strictly confidential.

CERTAINLY, Good journalism costs a lot of money. Without doubt, only good journalism can ensure the possibility of a good society, an accountable democracy, and a transparent government. We are ready to hold every corrupt government accountable to the citizens. To continually enjoy free access to the best investigative journalism in Nigeria, we are requesting of you to consider making a modest support to this noble endeavor.”

By contributing to NAIJA STANDARD NEWSPAPER, you are helping to sustain a journalism of relevance and ensuring it remains free and available to all without fear or favor.

Your donation is voluntary — please decide how much and how often you want to give. For offline donation, email: letters@nigeriastandardnewspaper.com or call +2348037128048 (Nigeria) or +16825834890 (United States of America)

[pff-paystack id=