Unlicensed Driver Couldn't See Elderly Woman Before Mowing Her Down

Google Maps image of the intersection where Isabel Durante killed in a hit and run. Photo courtesy of Google Maps.

By Christina Carrega

A Queens judge set $10,000 bail for a motorist accused of leaving the scene of an accident that left a 90-year-old woman dead.

Eber Baten allegedly admitted to police on Wednesday that he was behind the wheel of a 2006 Ford van that mowed down Isabel Durante on the corner of Jamaica Avenue and 129th Street in Richmond Hill.

Baten, 25, was driving on Jamaica Avenue around 7 a.m. when he make a left turn in the elevated vehicle that caused him not to see Durant, according to the criminal complaint..

“The van was too high and she was too low,” Baten allegedly told detectives.

The alleged unlicensed driver said he was heading to the Global Christian Ministries before the crash, according to the criminal complaint.

Baten also told police that he remained on the scene for a few seconds before getting nervous and left “because he did not have license,” according to criminal complaint.

Queens Criminal Court Judge Jeffrey Gershuny set bail at $10,000 cash or bond. If convicted, Baten faces up to four years in prison for the top charge of leaving the scene of an accident.