Man, 66, dashing across street outside his Queens home fatally struck by SUV driver

Nicholas Williams, Rebecca White, John Annese, New York Daily News
Updated ·3 min read

A 66-year-old man dashing across the street outside his Queens apartment building has died after being struck by an SUV driver, police said Sunday.

Anthony Lardo was running across 41st Ave. near 147th St. in Flushing about 8:50 p.m. Friday when a 68-year-old man driving a Toyota Highlander hit him, cops said.

Medics rushed Lardo, who lived on the block, to New York-Presbyterian Queens Hospital, where he later died, cops said.

The driver stayed at the scene and has not been charged as cops continue to investigate.

One neighbor, who didn’t give her name, said Lardo often helped her bring her laundry into their building.

“He was always helpful. If he sees me with the cart, he’ll help me. He was a wonderful guy. I feel so bad. Oh my God,” she said. “He’s always active. He’s not bothering nobody ... If he sees you coming, he’ll run to open the door for people.”

The victim even offered to help her the night he died.

“It was really dark outside,” she said. “He was going out. ... I said, ‘No, Anthony, I got it, I got it.’ He always wants to help somebody.”

Lardo was struck less than 16 hours after another deadly vehicle-on-pedestrian crash in Queens.

Darryl Younger was about to start his early-morning shift as a school lunch loader and handler around 4:40 a.m. Friday when a passing BMW SUV plowed into him near the corner of Jackson and 50th Aves. in Long Island City, police and co-workers said.

The BMW driver fled the scene and medics took the 58-year-old Younger to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell. He could not be saved.

Younger’s family was in shock Sunday, according to his brother-in-law Jonathan Johnson.

“She’s really distraught. She hasn’t really been able to process it yet,” he said of Younger’s widow.

“He liked fishing and being with his wife was one of his biggest things. They had no children, so they had each other,” he added. “They were tight.”

Johnson and other relatives identified the victim’s body at the hospital.

“It’s just unbelievable. I saw him under the sheets as if he was sleeping and it was like any day now he would just wake, up but I know he’s not. It is still just unbelievable,” he said.

Johnson said he harbored no ill will toward Younger’s killer.

“Hopefully you’d turn yourself in — it’s easier when you bring yourself in than being caught. It brings closure to the family,” said the brother-in-law, adding that funeral plans for Younger, a devout Jehovah’s Witness, were in the works.

“We can’t bring Darryl back, but we can get closure,” Johnson said.

Around 6 a.m. Saturday a 47-year-old man crossing Second Ave. near E. 82nd St. on the Upper East Side was struck by a truck driver, Cops said.

Medics rushed that victim to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Weill Cornell in cardiac arrest. The truck driver stayed at the scene and faced no immediate charges.