Driver Fleeing Linden Boulevard Crash Leaves Pedestrian Dead
A driver traveling east on Linden Boulevard hit 62-year-old Christopher Gayton near 166th Street on April 24, 2025, and fled before a 49-year-old Ford Edge driver ran over him, police told local outlets; the official record lists one pedestrian death.
What We Know
Christopher Gayton, 62, was crossing Linden Boulevard near 166th Street in South Jamaica at about 8:45 p.m. on April 24, 2025, when police said a driver traveling east hit him and fled. Police told local outlets that a 49-year-old man driving a 2024 Ford Edge then ran over Gayton and remained at the scene. Gayton was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in critical condition and died the next day. The official record lists one pedestrian death and records failure to yield right-of-way and driver inattention/distraction as contributing factors. Police were still seeking the first driver when the articles were published, and no arrests had been reported.
Police described two impacts and one fleeing driver
Police said Christopher Gayton, 62, was crossing Linden Boulevard near 166th Street at about 8:45 p.m. when a driver traveling east hit him and fled. A 49-year-old man driving a 2024 Ford Edge then ran over Gayton, according to the police accounts reported by the Daily News and Patch.
The official crash record lists one pedestrian killed at 166th Street and Linden Boulevard. It records the pedestrian as outside an intersection and crossing without a signal or crosswalk.
Christopher Gayton was outside his South Jamaica home
The Daily News identified the victim as Christopher Gayton and reported that he was walking with a cane in front of his Queens home. A relative wrote that Gayton had been crossing the street to get home and remembered him as a brother, father, son, uncle and cousin.
Japneet Singh, a City Council candidate in southeastern Queens, wrote that he witnessed the crash while on his way to a meeting and saw an elderly man with a cane run over twice.
Records and press accounts differ on vehicle descriptions
Patch reported that the first driver was operating a black vehicle and that police had not identified that driver. The Daily News reported that the first driver continued east on Linden Boulevard after hitting Gayton.
Both articles identify the second driver as a 49-year-old man driving a 2024 Ford Edge who remained at the scene and had not been charged. The detailed official vehicle entries list a 2016 Chrysler sedan and a 2024 Ford SUV, while the official crash summary describes the involved vehicle types as station wagon or sport-utility vehicles.
The official record cites yielding and distraction
The official record lists failure to yield right-of-way and driver inattention/distraction as contributing factors. In the detailed vehicle entries, those factors are recorded for the listed Chrysler driver, and driver inattention/distraction is recorded for the listed Ford driver.
Police were still searching for the driver who fled when the Daily News and Patch articles were published. Patch reported that the NYPD Highway District's Collision Investigation Squad was continuing the investigation.
The crash happened on a heavily traveled Queens corridor
The crash was recorded at 166th Street and Linden Boulevard in South Jamaica, Queens.
CrashCountNYC's corridor context for Linden Boulevard in Queens shows 1,300 crashes, 910 injuries, 51 serious injuries and 2 deaths since 2022.
Gayton died the next day at Jamaica Hospital
Emergency responders took Gayton to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in critical condition. Police told Patch that he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead the next day.
The Daily News reported that a relative mourned Gayton on Facebook, writing, "We will miss you forever," and remembering his laugh and calm personality.