ACCIDENT ON 17TH AND 51ST

1 dead, 2 hurt in B'klyn traffic accidents
BY NICOLE BODE and MELISSA GRACE

Tuesday, January 4th, 2005

One man was killed and two people - including a 78-year-old woman - were in critical condition following traffic accidents in three separate Brooklyn neighborhoods last night, cops said.
The fatal accident occurred at 6:20 p.m. as Chaim Goldberg, 24, rode his bike through an intersection in Borough Park and was hit by a yellow school bus, officials said.

Goldberg was riding the wrong way down a one-way street and apparently was trying to stop when he skidded on the wet pavement and hurtled under the rear wheels of the bus, cops said.

"He was a good person, a good member of the congregation, a good father, a good husband," said friend Matt Stein, 30. He said Goldberg was headed to an evening rabbinical class when he was killed.

The 71-year-old driver of the bus was not charged.

Just a half-hour earlier, Edward Ruiz, 27, was stepping out of the Lincoln Continental he had just parked on Flatbush Ave. at Dean St. in Prospect Heights when he was hit by a passing 1995 Jeep Wrangler headed north on Flatbush Ave.

Ruiz suffered severe head injuries and was clinging to life at Brooklyn Hospital Center, police said.

Cops said Ruiz, of 21st Ave., was accidentally struck by a 49-year-old woman driver from the Bronx. She was not charged, cops said.

The third victim, Yevgeniya Kozavchinskaya, 78, was discovered lying dead in the middle of Bedford Ave. north of Avenue N in Midwood at 5:20 p.m., cops said.

Cops did not immediately find witnesses and were unable to determine what happened to her, officials said.

"We're working under the assumption she was struck by a vehicle," said a police source.

The woman - who lives on Kings Highway in Bensonhurst - was listed in critical condition at Kings County Hospital, police said.

BUS KILLS CYCLIST AMID B'KLYN ACCIDENT FLURRY

By JAMIE SCHRAM and BRIAN HAMACHER

January 4, 2005 -- A bicyclist was killed and two pedestrians were clinging to life following three separate accidents that occurred a little more than an hour apart in Brooklyn last night.
Chaim Goldberg, 24, was struck and killed by a school bus while riding his bike against traffic at the intersection of 51st Street and 17th Avenue in Borough Park at about 6:20 p.m., police said.

He ran a red light as the bus approached, cops said.

Goldberg tried to stop on the rain-slickened road, but skidded and fell under the bus' rear wheels.

"The ambulance came, but unfortunately, they knew it was over," said a woman who lives near the scene.

Dozens of people from the community gathered near the mangled bike. They said the victim is a rabbinical student who left a wife and young child, and had another child on the way.

"He may have been coming home from tutoring, said Isreal Friedman, 25, who knew the victim.

Several people at the accident scene said Goldberg may have become disoriented on the bike because he is diabetic.

The driver of the school bus, which came from a nearby Yeshiva, was not charged and police said they didn't believe there were any students on board.

Earlier, Edward Ruiz, 27, of Brooklyn, was critically injured when he was struck by a Jeep on Flatbush Avenue near Dean Street in Prospect Heights.

Ruiz had just parked his Lincoln Continental and was hit by the 1994 Jeep Wrangler traveling north as he got out of his car at 5:50 p.m.

He was taken to Kings County Hospital and was listed in critical condition. Police said they did not expect to charge the Jeep driver.

A woman who answered the phone at Ruiz's home said he was in a coma.

At about 5:19 p.m., a woman was found lying in the street in Midwood, the victim of an apparent hit and run, police said.

Yevgeniya Kozavchinskay, 78, was discovered by a passer-by on Bedford Avenue near Avenue N. Police said she'd apparently been struck by a vehicle and they were searching for witnesses.

Kozavchinskay was taken to Kings County Hospital and was fighting for her life in critical condition.

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