72-Year-Old Killed In Greenpoint Crash Was Queens Man: Cops

GREENPOINT, BROOKLYN — Police have identified the 72-year-old man who was killed last week when an SUV crashed into the security booth he was sitting in.

Juan R. Mendez, of Bellerose, died at Bellevue Hospital last Thursday after a Ford Explorer drove into the security booth he was inside on Paidge Avenue.

The 62-year-old driver had been going north on Provost Street around 8 p.m. when he turned onto Paidge Avenue, which is found right near Brooklyn's border on the Newtown Creek, and lost control of the car, police said.

He ended up hitting a security booth in front of 59 Paidge Ave., where Mendez was sitting inside. Mendez was found with trauma to his legs and brought to the hospital. Police did not say whether Mendez was an employee at the building, which are offices for Time Warner Cable.

Mendez lived on 240 Street, records show.

The driver was not hurt by the crash and stayed at the scene, police said. There are no arrests and they are still investigating, police said.