One 45-year-old driver is dead, and a second driver is on the run after a fatal, early morning collision on Webster Avenue in the Morrisania section of the borough.

A female spokesperson at the NYPD confirmed the 4:26 a.m. crash involving two moving SUVs and other parked cars at Webster Avenue and East 168th Street on Sunday, June 5, telling Norwood News, “On arrival, it was determined that a 45-year-old male was operating a Toyota Camry traveling westbound on East 168 Street, when the vehicle was struck by another vehicle traveling northbound on Webster Avenue.”

She continued, “The unknown operator of that vehicle, exited the vehicle and fled the location on foot.”

Police officials later confirmed, “The Chevrolet pushed the Toyota a short distance northbound, causing both vehicles, as one unit, to [hit] three, uninvolved and unoccupied parked vehicles at the location.” If the preliminary information is correct, both SUVs traveled an estimated 100 feet north along Webster Avenue, before both vehicles came to a stop.

The 45-year-old male victim, who was traveling in a vehicle with plates registered to the Taxi and Limousine Commission, suffered “severe trauma to the head and body” and died a short time later at Lincoln Hospital.

No description of the fleeing driver was immediately available, but a manhunt for that individual is underway.

The NYPD’s Highway Collision Investigation Squad (CIS) is investigating. The deceased was later identified as Robert Godwin, 45 of 32nd Street in Queens. 

Hours later, a motorcyclist apparently lost control of his bike along East Fordham Road, between Decatur Avenue and Marion Avenue in Fordham Manor, and crashed. The victim was transported by EMS to a local hospital. The condition of the rider and circumstances of the accident were not immediately known.

Members of Engine 48 were observed picking the bike off the ground, as another member poured some type of chemical onto gasoline spilled on the street. The rider’s helmet was seen on the curb.

For CIS investigations, NYPD handles all criminal investigations, while NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) reviews the street design at the locations of crashes.

Norwood News will continue to follow and report on any new developments regarding either crash.

We recently reported on a serious car accident in Bedford Park in which an infant was injured, allegedly due to the fact that the driver, the infant’s father, lost control of the vehicle because he was allegedly distracted by a bee in the car.

We also recently reported on the latest actions being taken by both the DOT and NYPD to address traffic safety.

*Síle Moloney contributed to this story. 

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.