Driver killed on Hutchinson River Parkway in the Bronx
A 49-year-old driver was killed at 2:43 a.m. on the Hutchinson River Parkway, where police said Walden Spence hit a light pole and a tree while driving south in the Bronx.
What We Know
Walden Spence, 49, was driving south on the Hutchinson River Parkway early on Labor Day when police said he failed to properly navigate the roadway and hit a light pole and a tree in the Pelham Bay Park area. City crash data records one motorist killed at 2:43 a.m. and lists unsafe speed as a contributing factor. The Daily News reported that the driver was in a 2008 Infiniti; Bronx Times identified Spence as a South Jamaica resident and said EMS pronounced him dead at the scene. Police were still investigating.
Police said the driver left the roadway
Police said Walden Spence, 49, was driving south on the Hutchinson River Parkway early Monday when he failed to properly navigate the roadway and hit a light pole and a tree. The official crash record places the crash at 2:43 a.m. and records one motorist killed.
Reports placed the crash in the Pelham Bay Park area
Bronx Times reported that police responded near the Orchard Beach and City Island Exit 3 in Pelham Bay Park. The Daily News described the site as near Exit 4, while News 12 described it as between exits 4 and 3 along the Westchester-Bronx border.
Spence was pronounced dead at the scene
Bronx Times identified the driver as Walden Spence, a South Jamaica resident, and reported that EMS pronounced him dead at the scene within the 45th Precinct.
The official record listed one occupied sedan
The city crash record lists a 2008 sedan traveling south with one occupant, the driver. The Daily News described the car as a 2008 Infiniti; Bronx Times described it as a grey 2008 Infinity.
Unsafe speed appeared in the city record
The official crash record lists unsafe speed as a contributing factor. News 12 reported that investigators said it was not clear what led the driver to leave the roadway, and the press accounts said the investigation continued.
The investigation shut down the southbound parkway
News 12 reported that the investigation began around 3 a.m. and shut down the southbound Hutchinson River Parkway for several hours, with traffic backing up into Westchester before the parkway reopened.