By Mike Caputo
Robert M. Johnson, 58, was walking east-to-west in the crosswalk of the expressway just north of Mott Avenue when the driver of a dark colored SUV struck him and quickly drove away, police said.
Police statistics reveal the dangers facing pedestrians and bicyclists moving along or across the Nassau Expressway, a stretch of highway that connects Rockaway Turnpike to Kennedy Airport. Although the July 4 incident was the first reported on the Nassau Expressway in 2007, four such incidents were reported in 2006, including one that occurred at the Mott Avenue intersection, in the vicinity of last week's hit-and-run, police said.
Of the four incidents in 2006, three of the victims were crossing against the signal and two of them were not using the crosswalk, statistics show. Over the past two years, Mott Avenue and Wanser Avenue, where they intersect with Nassau Expressway, have each been the scene of two incidents of vehicles striking pedestrians. A fifth incident occurred at the intersection of Nassau Expressway and Broadway, where a bicyclist was struck.
Johnson, who works in the office of Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice, was transported to South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside in critical condition, suffering from head trauma, two broken legs and a broken left arm, police said. An updated condition on Johnson remained unavailable as of press time.
Rice visited Johnson at the hospital on the morning after the incident, and offered her full support to the victim.
"Our thoughts and prayers remain with our colleague," Rice said in a released statement. "The office is in total shock and we are all praying for Bob's speedy recovery."
Police urged anyone with information regarding the incident to contact Nassau County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous, they said.
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