A thief who’d just hijacked a Ford Mustang in Queens mowed down and killed a man crossing a street just a block from his Jamaica home, police said Sunday.
Earl Hall, 48, was crossing Linden Blvd. at Bedell St. on his way to a nearby store at 11:36 p.m. Saturday when the crook slammed into him with the stolen 2016 Mustang GT.
Hall was dragged through the intersection before the hijacker fled in another car, cops said.
“They knocked him out of his clothes … His skin was coming off,” said Hall’s devastated sister Letoya Cyrus, 31, who heard the crash from her home down the street. “He was left in the street like roadkill. His body was just twisted up, bones sticking up.”
The fatal crash happened less than 10 minutes after the Mustang was reported stolen more than a mile away at 105th Ave. near 72nd St., police said.
There is no stoplight at the intersection where Hall was killed, only a one-way stop sign on Bedell St. without any traffic signage or infrastructure along Linden Blvd.
Detectives have a license plate for the thief’s getaway car, but there were no immediate arrests, cops said. The family that owns the Mustang declined to comment.
Hall’s sister and mother, Gloria Cyrus, 70, said they saw the driver shortly after the crash, but didn’t realize he was the man behind the wheel until after he fled.
“That guy that did that needs to be caught,” said Gloria. “If he didn’t have malice in his heart he would have stayed there, because he should have felt really bad that he did that.”
Hall had diabetes and suffered a stroke in 2017 that left him partially paralyzed on his left side, his family members said. He used a walker and recently underwent eye surgery, which left his vision compromised.
Despite his physical limitations, Hall was independent, his family said.
“He was a very proud person. He wanted to do everything himself,” said Hall’s brother Latique Branch, 33, who was sent home from his shift as an EMT on Sunday after he heard the news.
Hall leaves behind two brothers, two sisters and a 16-year-old daughter who saw her father lying dead in the street. The family was close-knit and took care of their own.
“It’s going to feel nasty being here without him,” said Hall’s cousin Onetha Lewis, 44, who was also his caretaker. “He was like a brother. He was a pleasure to be around, he enjoyed the simple things in life. He enjoyed family.”
Lewis said that until Saturday night, Hall regularly walked to the store alone without any trouble.
“Somebody murdered my brother and they’re running,” said Letoya, Hall’s sister. “Find my brother’s killer.”
