Wave of NYC hit-and-runs leaves three dead in one weekend

A bloody weekend on the streets of New York has left multiple pedestrians dead and police searching for drivers who fled after hit-and-runs were reported across the city.

Police investigated three separate fatal hit-and-runs on Sunday, the New York Daily News reported, adding that a late Sunday collision, which was not a hit-and-run, added up to the fourth pedestrian fatality of the weekend.

Shortly before 5 a.m. on Sunday, a 41-year-old man was struck and killed by a gold sedan near the corner of Ninth Street and Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, the Daily News stated. Police have released an image of the sedan, which they describe as a Nissan Altima, in an effort to locate the driver.

Also on Sunday, a man was hit on 111th Street in Queens and was pronounced dead at Jamaica Hospital, where he was identified as Besik Shengelia of Brooklyn, CBS reported. The hit-and-run driver has not been identified.

Earlier on Sunday, Jose Contreras, 63, was hit and killed by a black SUV near the Cross Bronx Expressway and Webster Avenue in the Bronx, CBS added, again reporting that the hit-and-run driver remains at large.

A 33-year-old man became the fourth pedestrian killed on Sunday when he was hit by a vehicle on Sunday night near the corner of Unionport Road and McGraw Avenue in Parkchester, according to the Daily News. That incident was not a hit-and-run, and the driver remained on the scene.

“We need to increase the budget for the NYPD’s collision investigation squad, which will allow them to pursue more of these crashes and then ultimately convict people and send them to prison,” City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer said to CBS about the weekend’s hit-and-runs.