70-Year-Old Woman Killed In Brooklyn Hit-And-Run: Cops

CANARSIE, BROOKLYN — A 70-year-old woman was killed Friday afternoon in a hit-and-run on Flatlands Avenue, police said.

Maria Lorente was crossing Flatlands Avenue near East 78th Street when a dark colored sedan hit her, police said. Officers found her unconscious and unresponsive with trauma to her body around 1 p.m. and rushed her to Brookdale Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, police said.

The car drove away from the scene before officers arrived and there are no arrests yet, police said.

The crash adds to a long list of fatal pedestrian crashes both in Brooklyn and across the city during the last few weeks of 2019. Including Lorente's death, there have been eight pedestrians killed in the borough since late November.

A particularly brutal week in late December led to at least one safety measure from city officials, who announced that they will lower the speed limit from 30 MPH to 25 MPH along Third Avenue from Prospect Ave to 62nd Street and Hamilton Avenue, from Luquer Street to 18th Street in January.

Third Avenue saw two of the pedestrian deaths in the last week and four total cyclist or pedestrian deaths this year.