Police ID pedestrian victim, driver who hit him in Bayonne fatal crash

ByEyewitness News WABC logo
Thursday, April 28, 2016
Man fatally struck by pickup truck in Bayonne
Anthony Johnson is live in Bayonne with the latest details.

BAYONNE, New Jersey (WABC) -- Police have released the identity of the pedestrian victim and the driver who struck him in a deadly accident in Bayonne.

The incident happened about 2:15 p.m. Wednesday on Kennedy Boulevard near West 31st Street.

Authorities say 43-year-old David Porto was entering his parked vehicle when he was struck by a Ford F350 driven by 47-year-old David Vanderbeck, who was traveling northbound on Kennedy Boulevard.

After hitting Porto, who was pronounced dead at the scene, police say Vanderbeck continued north and struck the front end of a vehicle that was traveling west across the boulevard before hitting a parked car that began a chain reaction crash with two other parked vehicles.

Vanderbeck was rushed to the hospital, and no charges have yet been filed as the investigation is ongoing.

The crash happened in front of Walter Robinson Community School (PS 3) right at dismissal time, and the superintendent said the principal had the teachers line up in a chain to block the scene from the students as they left the building.