Brooklyn pedestrian in wheelchair killed by car driver may have been begging on the street

A man who died in his wheelchair while crossing a Brooklyn street may have been begging for money in the middle of the road when he was hit by a passing unlicensed driver, police and witnesses say.

William Rosario, 61, was running on New Lots Avenue near Mother Gaston Boulevard shortly after 10 p.m. on June 1 when he was struck and killed by an SUV.

Neighbors said they warned the begging pedestrian to stay off the street, while his brother lamented the victim’s bad luck.

“I took care of my brother,” said Pedro Rosario, the victim’s brother. “He had no one else.”

Pedro said Rosario was confined to a wheelchair after a bad fall and subsequent leg surgery in January.

The victim had been through difficult times and had a criminal past, the brother added.

“I told him to live more responsibly, to stay away from bad influences and stay away from drugs,” Pedro said. “But he was different. … When he had money, he had all kinds of friends. When he was broke, he had no one. People took advantage of him. That’s the kind of lifestyle.”

Police said Rosario was struck by the SUV, which was traveling east on New Lots Avenue.

A witness said the unlucky victim drove up to the car to beg for money and got too close to it.

Rosario was taken to Brookdale Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The driver, 67-year-old Anthony John, was arrested on June 12 and charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian, driving without a license and failure to exercise due care after his Honda CR-V crashed in Rosario.

Police said he remained at the scene after the accident.

Residents said Rosario was often seen begging on the streets and driving past motorists, asking for change.

Neighbors near the nursing facility that was his home found him sympathetic and said his tragic death hurt them.

“Someone said, ‘Hey, Willie just got hit by a car,'” said a neighbor named Ricardo. “When I got there, there were a couple of cops standing there and I saw his wheelchair. There were just parts lying around everywhere.”

“Willie was a sick man. He lost a lot of weight,” Ricardo said. “I told him not to go out on the streets.”

“We ate together, we watched films together, we laughed together. We did a lot together. I wanted to go on holiday with him and this man took that away from me. It breaks my heart.”

Some neighbors expressed their sympathy for the driver, who was described as distressed after the collision.

“He had the right of way,” 49-year-old local resident Alvin James said of the driver.

He said Rosario went too far into the road and was hit.

“He just rolled out of there,” James said. “The only thing the guy behind the wheel did wrong was he didn’t have a license.”

Romeo Wilson, 50, another neighbor, warned Ricardo to be careful as well.

“We always told Mr. Willie not to drive on these roads,” Wilson said. “He would wait for the red light so he could go up to the cars and ask for change and stuff like that. This is New Lots. This is like a damn highway. You have to be careful crossing this road.”

“I always gave him a few dollars and stuff so he wouldn’t have to go out on the streets, or I bought him food so he wouldn’t spend the money on something else. He liked to drink.

“All in all, he was a pretty decent guy. Everyone liked him. A lot of people helped him so he didn’t have to beg on the streets, but for some reason he did it anyway.”