By Anthony Rifilato
Police arrested Thomas Burke, 43, of 501 Brooklyn Ave. in Baldwin, and charged him with leaving the scene of an accident, a felony. He was arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead and held on $15,000 bail. Calls to Burke's home were not returned.
The search for Burke began after the woman, Ann Lindner, of 725 Florence St., was struck by a northbound 1997 white Cadillac at 9 p.m. last Tuesday on Grand Avenue near Florence Street.
Police said Burke had been impatiently tailgating another car in the left lane. The driver of the other car told police that he would have moved out of the way and into the right lane to let Burke pass, but saw Lindner crossing. It was then that Burke cut into the right lane to pass the other car, but struck Lindner instead.
"She was hit pretty bad," said Baldwin Fire Department Chief Doug Weidmann. Weidmann said a stretch of Grand Avenue was closed for several hours due to the accident and investigation.
Lindner was taken to Nassau University Medical Center, where she died of her injuries. She was crossing the street to buy milk, less than a block away from her home.
Immediately after she was hit, the driver of the other vehicle, whom police did not identify, pursued Burke down side streets in Baldwin, but couldn't keep up. "The witness made a good effort to follow him," said Homicide Detective Sgt. Herbert Daub.
An hour later, a local resident called police and said there was an unknown vehicle parked in his driveway. It was Burke's Cadillac, Daub said, bloodied and damaged, with the keys still inside. He had abandoned the car.
Police embarked on a search for Burke, talking to his family and others to try to find him. At 2:30 a.m., five hours later, Burke turned himself in to the First Precinct. Daub said Burke, who owns a few auto-repair shops, including One Time Transmission in Oceanside, told detectives that he fled the scene because he thought someone had been chasing and shooting at him.
Daub said police haven't been able to determine how fast Burke was traveling, but said that alcohol has been ruled out as a factor because so much time elapsed between the accident and the time Burke turned himself in. Burke has a 1988 drunk-driving conviction.
"Obviously some time had passed," said Daub. "Due to the time, [alcohol] became a non-issue."
Lindner wasn't crossing at the stoplight near the intersection of Milburn Avenue and Grand Avenue, which is not far from where she was hit. She was going to the Valero gas station and mini mart, literally a straight walk from her Florence Street home to the entrance of Valero's. But residents here said that this is a dangerous stretch of Grand Avenue. When the northbound light is red, the southbound light is green. Lindner always emphasized caution when crossing, however, family and friends said.
Now those who knew Lindner are reeling from her tragic death. Friends and family described her as a warm and friendly person who had recently switched jobs as a real estate agent in Malverne, where she happily settled.
"This was a shock to us all," said Sonja Rosenbaum, a close friend of Lindner's and her partner at RE/Max Elite Realty in Malverne. Rosenbaum said she and Lindner, who was a real estate agent in Malverne for over 25 years, had left Malverne Realty a year ago in order to gain more autonomy at RE/Max.
"She was extremely happy," Rosenbaum said.
Rosenbaum and others said Lindner was lively and friendly. She never hesitated to ask people their names, and would chat with anyone from a waitress at a restaurant to the local grocery-store clerk.
"She was like a town mayor," said Dawn Lehrmann, a secretary at RE/Max, who said Lindner liked to be called Ann, never Mrs. Lindner or ma'am. "Everybody knows her."
Rosenbaum said that Lindner, who leaves behind two sons, had lived in Baldwin for about 40 years. Her husband died three years ago. Rosenbaum said Lindner loved literature, classic films and the outdoors. At work and at home, she was also known to talk baseball. "She was an extremely big Yankees fan," Rosenbaum said.
During the summer, it wasn't uncommon for Lindner to work late hours, and the night of the accident, she had visited a client. Shortly afterward, Rosenbaum said Lindner visited a friend in Baldwin, returned home and later went to Valero's. At RE/Max, Lindner's colleagues and friends paid tribute by putting her photo and a profile of her in the window, adorned with flowers. They said she will truly be missed.
"She was a real sweet lady," said Lehrmann. "She was spunky. If she hadn't been hit she'd live to be 125 years old."
