Man dead in early-morning Gowanus Expressway crash in Brooklyn, NYPD says
A motorist who stepped out of his car on a busy Brooklyn highway to assess damage from an accident died Saturday when another car mowed him down, police said.
Manoj Thapa, 32, got in trouble about 1:15 a.m. on the Gowanus Expressway near 56th St. in Sunset Park when he stopped his Toyota Camry behind a disabled car in the right lane, police said.
Another motorist, behind the wheel of a Toyota Venza SUV, hit the rear of Thapa’s Toyota Camry, said cops.
The Venza pulled up in front of the two stopped cars. Thapa and the Venza’s driver got out of their respective cars to inspect the damage.
As they were checking, a motorist driving a BMW hit Thapa, pinning him to the rear of his Toyota Camry, said police.
Thapa, of Ridgewood, Queens, died at the scene, cops said.
The 24-year-old driver of the BMW remained at the scene. No charges were immediately filed. The BMW driver and the Venza driver were treated for minor injuries at Lutheran Hospital Center.
The lanes of Gowanus Expressway leading south to the Belt Parkway were shut for several hours as police investigated.
