A friend stood in the doorway with tears in his eyes. The family, he said, was too distraught to talk about it.
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They are grief-stricken over the seemingly senseless death of Taranjit Parmar. She was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver on a busy stretch of Hempstead Turnpike.
Video shows the driver of the red pickup pull out into traffic, directly into the path of Taranjit's SUV.
It was a minor collision and both drivers were seen pulling off the road, just outside the range of the surveillance camera.
What you don't see is what happens next. Taranjit gets out of her car and the driver runs her down before fleeing the scene into rush hour traffic.
"I heard her saying, 'Stop, stop, stop' and she held onto his truck and he actually dragged her 25, 30 feet to there," said Paul Signorile, Eyewitness. "She fell down and he kind of like ran her over and kind of went over towards Starbucks, spun around Starbucks, and came back eastbound. I feel horrible, I feel horrible, it could happen to anybody's kid. It shouldn't happen that way 18 years old, it's a horrible thing."
It happened at 5 p.m. Thursday. Friday afternoon, police called a news conference urging the public for help.
"Five o'clock, on a Thursday, on Hempstead Turnpike in Levittown, that's bumper to bumper traffic, people saw this," said Det. Sgt. Vincent Garcia, Nassau County Police.
Investigators are using every tool they have. They are searching nearby surveillance cameras and downloading license plate readers and poring through DMV records.
Taranjit was studying to be a dentist and returning from classes at Adelphi University. She was killed five minutes from her home and four days before her 19th birthday.
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"Adelphi University is saddened to learn of the passing of our undergraduate student, Taranjit Parmar, as the result of a tragic accident on Thursday, November 9, 2017," school officials said in a statement. "Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this time. Staff at the University's Student Counseling Center (516-877-3646) and Center for Psychological Services (516-877-4823) are available to provide services and support."
Detectives request anyone with information regarding the incident or who may have seen some or all of the accident to contact Nassau County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-244-TIPS. All callers will remain anonymous.
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