Driver Charged After 15-Year-Old Antonina Zatulovska Struck, Killed By School Bus In Brooklyn Hit-And-Run
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A 15-year-old girl died Monday after she was hit by a school bus while crossing the street in Brooklyn.
Police said the driver, who is facing charges, told them he didn't realize he had hit someone, CBS2's Nick Caloway reported.
Surveillance video obtained by CBS2 News shows the moments before the girl was hit by a large yellow school bus. The bus was turning from Avenue P onto Bedford Avenue in Midwood just before 8 a.m.
Police said 15-year-old Antonina Zatulovska was crossing the street in the crosswalk and had the right of way.
One witness who did not want his face shown on television told CBS2's Nick Caloway he heard screams and saw the bus drive away.
"I don't know if he didn't realize that he hit somebody or something. But he kept on going and he didn't stop," the man said. "This poor little girl. She was just a small, small human. And the bus driver probably just didn't realize that he unfortunately took someone's life with the way he was driving."
Police got a call about a pedestrian struck by a vehicle, and found the girl lying in the road. She was pronounced dead on the scene.
The tragedy left neighbors traumatized.
"A school bus? That's really, really horrible," said neighbor Michael Aryeh.
"It's definitely not something you see every day. I've seen these sort of things before. This is Brooklyn, New York. But right in front of our house, it's really, really something bad," Aryeh said.
"I mean it's devastating just for anybody to hear screaming for help. And you feel so helpless. Like, what are you going to do?" said the witness.
Witnesses say there were children on the school bus when it hit the girl.
Police used surveillance video to identify the bus in the incident, and locate the bus driver.
Aleksandr Patlakh, 55, told police he was not aware he had struck the victim. When he learned of the pedestrian death, he surrendered himself to authorities for questioning.
Patlakh was charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to exercise due care. He was issued a desk appearance ticket and released.
CBS2's Nick Caloway contributed to this report.
