Van driver in South Bronx fatal hit-and-run tried to torch vehicle afterward: NYPD

The driver of a van who struck and killed a 56-year-old man in the South Bronx tried to set the stolen vehicle on fire and fled on foot after the collision, police said Thursday.

Alhadji Fofana was trying to cross Westchester Ave. at E. 163rd St. , an intersection where four streets meet under elevated train tracks, early Monday morning when a 2008 Ford van hit him in the crosswalk, police said.

Cops responded to a 911 call at about 6:30 a.m. and Fofana, who was found lying in the road, was rushed to Lincoln Hospital but he could not be saved.

The driver fled the scene and later abandoned the van after trying to set it aflame, police said. Both the vehicle and license plate were previously reported stolen.

It was the second fatal hit-and-run in two days in the Bronx.

On Wednesday, SM Akhtaruzzaman, 64, was crossing Bronxwood Ave. at E. 229th St., just down the block from his Wakefield home, when the driver of a 2016 Chevy Silverado with a tow hitch struck him at about 12:35 p.m., cops said.

The Silverado driver, who had a green light, was turning left onto the avenue. Akhtaruzzaman was in the crosswalk and had the walk signal when he was struck, cops said.

Startling surveillance video obtained by ABC Channel 7 Eyewitness News shows the driver running over the victim . The driver appeared to slow down and then sped off, blowing through the next red light at E. 230th St., including through another crosswalk with a walk signal.

Medics rushed the unconscious victim to Jacobi Medical Center, but he could not be saved.

There have been no arrests in either case, and the investigations are ongoing.