A 21-year-old area man was killed last week after he was struck by a city bus and dragged for 100 feet, officials said.
Police said that Igor Ovodenko of Brighton Beach was hanging out with friends on 36th Street near Clara in Kensington when he was struck by the bus at 8:30 p.m. on January 3.
Witnesses told police that he was walking away from a parked car when he was hit.
There are conflicting reports on just how he was hit, however.
Reporters were told that Ovodenko stepped out from between two parked cars when he was struck by the bus. Other reports show that he walked into the street, dodged out of the way of a passing truck — and right into the path of the oncoming bus.
Investigators said that Ovodenko struck the front side of the B67 bus, breaking the windshield.
Horrified witnesses said he fell under the bus, was run over by the front wheel and ended up pinned by the back wheels.
He was dragged for 100 feet before the bus, which was not in service at the time, came to a stop.
Firefighters had to jack up the back of the bus to free Ovodenko, who died of his injuries at Maimonides Medical Center.
The grief-stricken operator of the bus, a two-year veteran of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, was on his way to a nearby depot at the time of the accident.
He remained at the scene and passed a Breathalyzer test and is not expected to face criminal charges, police said.
–Tom Tracy
