Delivery worker killed in Brooklyn hit-and-run as cyclist deaths surge across NYC
Mamadou Diallo’s death comes amid a deadly week for cyclists across New York City.
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A 40-year-old delivery worker who came to America with a bike and a dream was killed Thursday night after police say a driver struck him before they fled the scene in Brooklyn.
Mamadou Diallo came to the U.S. from Guinea three years ago with the hope to build a better life and support his family back home. His best friend, Abdoulaye Barry, says Diallo was just a mile from his home in Flatlands when a driver struck him on East 54th Street and Avenue I.
“I’m very, very sad. My heart is broke,” Barry said.
Police say the impact sent Diallo flying into a parked car. The driver kept driving and left Diallo to die in the street.
Barry says Diallo had been working as a DoorDash delivery driver to provide for his family.
“The American dream is hard. You want to work. You want to get money for family, for yourself,” Barry said.
Barry, who also works as a delivery driver, says he is now too afraid to do the job.
“I can’t do delivery. I can’t do it, because I’m afraid. I can’t do delivery anymore,” Barry said.
Diallo’s death comes amid a deadly week for cyclists across New York City.
Police say 29-year-old Paulina Tec Choc was run over by a pickup truck Tuesday in Cypress Hills while stopped on a bike.
That same night in the Bronx, 51-year-old Angelo Camera, a father of five, was killed while riding his bike home from work. Police say the driver ran a red light.
Diallo is now the third cyclist killed in a hit-and-run crash across the city this week.
“Life is really valuable. It’s hard to lose it just like that,” a neighbor said.
Barry says he wants justice for his friend and for Diallo’s family in Guinea.
“I want justice for Mamadou. Everybody in Africa, his family wants justice for Mamadou,” Barry said.
Activists are expected to gather Wednesday at City Hall Park to call attention to cyclist safety and what they say is a 70% spike in cyclist fatalities compared with this time last year.
