Carnage

Police Searching For Killer Car Thief

Early reports were wrong: the bad guy who stole a car in Queens and then left it to run over a woman remains at large.

By Julianne Cuba

9:52 AM EST on November 22, 2019

Police are looking for this guy who they say jumped out of a vehicle that hit and killed a woman on Nov. 5. Source: NYPD

Cops are still hunting for the bad guy who, they say, stole a car in Queens, then abandoned it so ineptly that the vehicle ended up slamming into and killing a woman.

Police say the 38-year-old thief hijacked a 2009 Hyundai Sonata on Nov. 5, but abandoned it on Sutphin Boulevard near Archer Avenue — apparently leaving the engine on and not engaging the break. The car then rolled onto the sidewalk, striking 60-year-old Bibi Zulaikah, as she crossed Archer Avenue at about 9:15 p.m.

The thief fled on foot, while paramedics rushed Zulaikah to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where she died.

An initial report in the Post suggested that cops had collared a suspect, but that turned out to be inaccurate, as QNS reported the next day. This week, police released video and a photograph of the man they are pursuing.

Anyone with information is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at (800) 577-8477 (TIPS). The public can also submit tips at the CrimeStoppers website or on Twitter @NYPDTips. Police say that all calls are confidential.

Julianne Cuba

Julianne Cuba joined Streetsblog in February, 2019, after three years covering local news and politics at The Brooklyn Paper. There, she also covered the notoriously reckless private carting industry and hit-and-runs. A 2015 graduate of Stony Brook University’s School of Journalism Master’s Program, she now lives in Brooklyn. Julianne is on Twitter at @julcuba. Email Julianne at julianne@streetsblog.org

Carnage | NYPD | NYPD Crash Investigations

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