There’s a reason why school crossing guards are stationed at corners.
On Thursday morning a 6-year-old boy was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer in East Harlem. The crossing guard who was stationed at the intersection — First Avenue and 117th Street — where the child was hit never showed up for work that morning, according to The New York Times
Amar Diarrassouba and his brother, 9, were crossing First Avenue on their way to Pubic School 155 when a tractor-trailer turning right from 117th Street hit Amar, The Times reported.
Crossing guard Flavia Roman was supposed to be at the intersection where Amar was hit at 7 a.m. The boy was struck at 7:54 a.m. A man on a bike tried to help the boy, who was lying in a pool of blood in the street. Amar was taken to Harlem Hospital, but was in cardiac arrest and died.
Shortly before the accident, Roman had lied about her whereabouts. She had called into the police station for the 23rd Precinct, which is procedure, to tell the youth officer there she was at her post, according to The Times. Obviously, she wasn’t.
Roman was suspended without pay. New York Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly told The Times that Roman won’t be charged criminally, but will likely face administrative charges. She could be just reprimanded, or she could lose her job.
The truck driver, Robert Carroll, 42, of Woodbury, N.J., had a green light when he made his turn. According to press accounts, he said he didn’t see Amar, who had the right of way, according to the New York Post.
Carroll was given a summons for failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to exercise due care, the Post reported.