Hempstead Turnpike scene of deadly W.H. hit-and-run

Police arrested a Mineola man last week after he allegedly struck and killed a pedestrian in West Hempstead.

According to police, Joaquim Gloria, 38, was driving his 2008 Chevrolet box truck west on Hempstead Turnpike just before midnight on June 15 when he hit 23-year-old Salem Enayetullah, who was crossing the road near Poplar Street. Gloria then allegedly fled the scene.

Enayetullah, a recent Hofstra graduate who hailed from Massachusetts and was living in West Hempstead, was on his nightly 10-mile run when he was hit. He was taken to Winthrop University Hospital and pronounced dead on arrival.

Police located Gloria a short time later and arrested him on charged of leaving the scene of an accident with death. He was jailed on $25,000 bail on June 16, and was released shortly after making bail later that evening.

The hit-run is the second fatal pedestrian accident on the Nassau roadway this month: a 19-year-old man was struck and killed while walking across Hempstead Turnpike near Gardiners Avenue in Levittown on June 4, but no criminal charges were filed in that case.

Rosalie Norton, president of the West Hempstead Community Support Association, said something needs to be done about the dangerous turnpike, which the nonprofit Tri-State Transportation Campaign has listed as the deadliest road for pedestrians in the tri-state area.

“The turnpike needs to be more pedestrian friendly and less dangerous,” she said, adding that changes need to be made before more people are hurt. Norton suggested four changes that could be introduced to reduce the number of accidents on Hempstead Turnpike:

• No more right on red on the turnpike
• Introduce more crosswalk markings that let pedestrians know they have the right-of-way
• Reduce the speed limit from 35 mph to 30 mph
• Add more traffic lights and signals to control the flow of cars   

“It’s impossible to eliminate all accidents,” Norton said, “but by implementing these new changes, there’s no doubt that Hempstead Turnpike will be safer.”