A 2-year-old girl was killed Monday after being struck by a minivan on Clinton Lane. Ramapo Police Sgt. Anthony Giardina said Monday that a member of the Hatzolah Ambulance Services called police just after 6:45 p.m. to say that the child had been hit by the car and was being taken to Nyack Hospital. The girl suffered severe head trauma and her identity was not released.Though the details of how the crash occurred were not clear late Monday evening, Giardina said the child was taken from the crash site near 150 Clinton Lane and pronounced dead a short time after reaching the hospital.As of 10:45 p.m., Giardina said a Ramapo Accident Investigation Team continued to examine evidence at the scene.
As of 10:45 p.m., Giardina said a Ramapo Accident Investigation Team continued to examine evidence at the scene.Just before 8:30 p.m. Monday, a large crowd of men, women and children surrounded the maroon minivan that remained in the center of Clinton Lane.People standing quietly in doorways along the densely populated street watched as members of the Hassidic Jewish village used white cloths to soak up blood from beneath the car's left-front tire.The men saved the cloth in a plastic bag; Jewish law requires all remains — including blood — be collected before a burial can take place.None in the crowd appeared to have witnessed the crash, but several bystanders on opposite sides of the roped-off scene said the child had run out into the street, leaving little time for the driver to react.Police reported no injuries to the driver, who was not identified.
The scene was similar to an April 15 crash on Jefferson Avenue where another 2-year-old girl was killed after being struck by a car in the parking lot of the New Square Supermarket.Giardina said no summonses had been issued and he was awaiting the results of the investigation.That girl, identified by village residents as Golda Taubenfeld, was also taken to Nyack Hospital, where she, too, was pronounced dead.On Jan. 28, 2010, a 4-year-old boy suffered head trauma, bleeding to the brain, a fractured pelvis and a bruised lung after he was struck by a minivan while crossing Bush Lane with his mother.The driver of the minivan, Reuven Bayer, 37, of New Square later turned himself in to police and was charged with felony assault and reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor. The status of his case was not known Monday evening.All three crashes occurred within less than .3 miles of one another.
