By Jeff Lipton
The victims were identified as 37-year-old Marta Garcia and her mother-in-law, who has the same name, police said. Both women lived on Caffrey Avenue in Far Rockaway, Queens, officials said.
The accident occurred at Peninsula Boulevard and Franklin Avenue shortly before 5 p.m. on Dec. 1. The women were trying to cross Peninsula Boulevard, north to south, at a crosswalk near Woodmere Middle School, investigators said. The women were on their way home to Far Rockaway and were walking to a bus stop on West Broadway when they were hit, said Detective Sgt. John King of the Fourth Squad.
The women had just stepped onto the street when they were struck by a 1990 Mercury station wagon, which was westbound on Peninsula Boulevard, investigators said.
They were crossing the street and had just stepped into the roadway when the light was in its changing cycle, said King. They got hit at the intersection [of Franklin Avenue].
According to witnesses, the driver, who was identified by police officials only as a 43-year-old man from Inwood, was passing through the intersection as the light was yellow, King said.
One witness said she heard a loud thud, turned around and saw two bodies flying through the air.
The women were rushed to local hospitals, where the younger Garcia was pronounced dead at Franklin Hospital Medical Center in Valley Stream at 5:40 p.m., and her mother-in-law was pronounced dead at Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Centre at 6:27 p.m., police said.
Police said the driver stopped immediately after the accident. There were no charges filed and no summonses issued, police said.
The station wagon was impounded by police for brake and safety checks, investigators said. Although there appeared to be no crime involved, the investigation is continuing, King said.
Fourth Squad Detective Sergeant John Azzata said no fault in the accident has been established, and the driver did not appear to be speeding. There was no criminality involved, Azzata said.
Traffic in both directions on Peninsula Boulevard was backed up for a couple of hours while police investigated. Vehicles were diverted in other directions, clogging streets in Hewlett and Woodmere with bumper-to-bumper traffic until the evening hours.
Joe Gelb, president of the Hewlett Business Association, said the area is overburdened with traffic, which causes accidents. It's terribly unfortunate, but rarely does a day go by when there isn't an accident, he said. We have a tremendous amount of traffic here.
