Sara Perez, 19, fatally struck by pickup truck in Queens, 16-year-old unlicensed was driving – CBS New York

NEW YORK (CBS New York) – A 19-year-old was killed after being hit by a pickup truck in Queens on Thursday, and police say the driver was an unlicensed teenager.

Police say the 16-year-old driver was picking up his father’s truck from an auto shop and, as it was backing up, it sped up and hit a 19-year-old woman on the sidewalk.

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Surveillance video shows the car’s tires rolling back from the curb into the street, then rushing quickly before onlookers eventually run over.

It happened around 5 p.m. on Northern Boulevard at the corner of 107th Street in Corona.

A mangled front bumper and cans of cat food were left where police said the truck pinned 19-year-old Sara Perez against a wall.

“She was a really nice, sweet and caring girl. She always had a smile on her face. She always took care of her cats,” said Elvis Perez, the victim’s cousin.

Ingrid Martinez was working nearby and got out when she heard the impact.

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“Like a boom, like a bomb goes off,” she told CBS2’s Ali Bauman. “I saw the girl was unconscious on the floor, and she had a mask on and the mask was red with blood.”

Martinez then walked over to the 16-year-old unlicensed driver, who was nervous and shaky, waiting outside the truck.

“I spoke to him and asked him what happened. He said, my brakes don’t work and I came from the tire shop and it’s supposed to be good because they were working on it, I don’t don’t know,” Martinez said.

Perez was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

The driver spoke to police at the scene but was not arrested.

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It is not known if he has a learner’s license, but police say he was alone in the car regardless.