Unlicensed Driver Fatally Injures 101-Year-Old in Crown Heights
Police said Menachem Shagalow, an unlicensed driver in a 2023 GMC Yukon, turned at Brooklyn Avenue and Montgomery Street and hit Taibel Brod, who the city record says was crossing with the signal; she died April 20.
What We Know
A 101-year-old woman was killed crossing Brooklyn Ave at Montgomery St in Brooklyn on an April evening. According to the police report, an unlicensed man driving an SUV turned left and hit her as she crossed the intersection with the signal. Police recorded failure to yield right-of-way and driver inattention or distraction as contributing factors.
A left turn into a woman crossing with the signal
Police said Menachem Shagalow, 65, was traveling south on Brooklyn Avenue and turning left eastbound onto Montgomery Street when he hit Taibel Brod in the crosswalk around 8:25 p.m. The city crash record says Brod was at the intersection and crossing with the signal; the vehicle record lists the driver's pre-crash movement as making a left turn.
EMS took Brod to Maimonides Medical Center with head injuries. Police said she died on April 20, nearly two weeks after the crash.
Brooklyn Avenue and Montgomery Street in Crown Heights
The crash happened at Brooklyn Avenue and Montgomery Street in Brooklyn's 11225 ZIP code, a Crown Heights intersection identified in both the city crash record and police accounts published by local news outlets.
The location matters because Brod was recorded as crossing at the intersection with the signal while the driver was making a turn, a common point of conflict between people walking and drivers turning.
Police and city data point to failure to yield and an unlicensed driver
The city vehicle record lists a 2023 GMC SUV, one male occupant, and a driver license status of unlicensed. It records failure to yield right-of-way and driver inattention or distraction as contributing factors for the driver.
Taibel Brod was remembered as a matriarch and volunteer
Police and city crash data recorded Brod as 101. The Daily News reported that her family said she was 99, explaining that her recorded age was affected by a passport used when she fled Russia after World War II.
Family members described Brod as a longtime Crown Heights resident, a Hasidic family matriarch, and a volunteer who spent decades feeding patients at Brookdale University Hospital Medical Center. Relatives told reporters she remained independent, prayed daily, and cared for herself.