Community leaders call for charges against driver who fatally hit delivery worker in Astoria
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Organizers in Astoria are calling on the DA to bring charges against the driver who fatally struck delivery driver Xing Long Lin in April. Photo via Zohran Mamdani/GoFundMe
By Jacob Kaye
Community leaders are calling for charges to be brought against the woman who fatally ran over delivery driver Xing Long Lin in Astoria last month.
Lin, a 37-year-old Chinese immigrant from Elmhurst, was in the middle of a shift for Watawa Sushi while driving his scooter down 35th Street near Ditmars Boulevard on Thursday, April 29, when a 60-year-old woman ran him over and crashed into a nearby outdoor dining structure, injuring a diner.
Initial police reports said the woman, who was traveling at a high rate of speed, suffered a medical episode while behind the wheel prior to the crash, though that narrative has since been disputed, according to reporting by Streetsblog. Eyewitnesses said the woman instead was attempting to pass another car along the narrow road when she fatally struck Lin, CBS reported. Another witness heard the woman telling police she was struck from behind, which caused her to lurch forward, the witness told the Eagle.
Now, nearly a month after his death, community leaders say it’s time for charges to be brought.
“We just want to make sure that this man's life has been accounted for and that we have done everything possible to make sure that justice is there,” said Kate Peterson, a local community member. “It felt very much like that could have been me, that could have been anyone I know.”
Both the Queens District Attorney’s office and the 114th Precinct told the Eagle that Lin’s death is still under investigation. The NYPD would not comment on whether or not any actions, including the suspension of a driver’s license, were taken against the 60-year-old driver following the crash.
Peterson worries that Lin’s death may be overlooked because of his status as an immigrant and a low-wage worker.
“It concerns me to think about the fact that we may have a double standard in seeking justice,” she said. “I want to make sure that we’re fighting for this man – who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and lost his life in such a devastating way – just as much as we would for any other person, whether they're known in our community or not.”
The delay in announcing whether or not charges will be brought against the driver, isn’t unusual, according to Peter Beadle, an associate attorney at the law firm Vaccaro and White.
“It can sometimes take some time before a district attorney is ready to announce that they're bringing charges,” Beadle said. “So I'm not that surprised at the delay in the announcing of charges. But that doesn't mean that they will announce charges just because they're taking some time.”
In cases like Lin’s, the only person involved in the crash to tell the story is the driver, according to Beadle.
“That story invariably is a story that benefits the driver, and comes from the driver's perspective,” Beadle said. “And it goes into the official police report as what happened, and it gets reported by the press as what happened, and too often there's no further review of that case to see if that's what really happened.”
But while he’s confident the case is being investigated and that charges have the potential to be brought, Beadle said fatal crashes rarely result in prosecution.
“It’s really rare for charges to actually be brought against a driver who has struck somebody on a bike or moped, in a case like this,” he said. “My sense is that there's a belief among prosecutors that juries are hesitant to convict drivers who are involved in these crashes.”
“There's a perspective that, ‘Well, it's an accident, accidents happen,’” he added. “So many of us drive and we can all sort of picture ourselves as being that person at the wheel. And, and that becomes the perspective.”
Katherine Fuchs is the chef owner of The Thirsty Koala, a restaurant down the street from where Lin was killed. The former FDNY chief and paramedic was called out into the street by her neighbors the night he was killed.
She arrived at the scene a few minutes before the paramedics to find Lin covered in debris and nearly lifeless.
Despite the month-long wait, Fuchs is confident that the investigation will be thorough enough to bring Lin’s family and the local community the answers they so desperately need.
“What happened is horrific and everybody was very emotionally invested, at least in this community, because we're very tight,” Fuchs said. “Everybody here has an interest. So it's difficult to kind of leave this unresolved. But, at the same token, if any of us were involved, we would want it to be thorough.”
Peterson and a group of local organizers are hoping to hold a vigil on Thursday, May 27, to call attention to the need for driver safety in Astoria.
