2 Children Killed, Pregnant Tony-Winning Actress Hit By Heartless Driver Who Ran Red Light
By Carl Samson
A driver ran over two children — one the daughter of a Tony-winning actress — to their deaths after pushing through a red light.
The grim incident took place at the corner of Ninth St. and Fifth Ave. in Park Slope, Brooklyn, on March 5.
Abigail Blumenstein, 4, and Joshua Lew, 1, were struck by Dorothy Bruns, 44, around 12:40 PM. They were with their mothers, Ruthie Ann Blumenstein and Lauren Lew.
Blumenstein, a Tony-winning actress known as Ruthie Ann Miles, was reportedly pregnant and critical after the incident. She won the award in 2015 for her role in “The King and I.”
Bystander Leah Finnegan, who took photos of the aftermath, told the New York Post that Miles “was bleeding from her head.’’
“I ran to the [mom], telling her, ‘Please, Miss, stay down.’ … She tried getting up on her knees and fell back down.’’
Lew, including a fifth victim, also sustained injuries. Bystander Andrew Macaluso described Lew’s reaction:
“The mom was sitting there next to him screaming. She was just kind of, ‘Oh, God, this can’t be happening! Tell me this isn’t happening! What’s going on?’”
The five were rushed to New York-Presbyterian Methodist Brooklyn Hospital. Unfortunately, the two children died.
Two other adults had minor injuries, authorities reported.
Debbie LaSalle, a Park Slop resident, also saw the shocking moment:
“It was horrible to watch. I’m still in shock. The white car was going really fast. The pregnant mother was facedown and the baby flew into the street. She dragged the stroller and…the other baby was pinned under the car. It was something you see in a horror movie.”
According to witnesses, Bruns tried to speed off after hitting the children, dragging the stroller that held baby Joshua for half a block before she crashed into other cars on the opposite side of the street.
Apparently, this is not the first time Bruns — who drove a white Volvo — got into traffic trouble. Police said that she was caught running through red lights four times in the last two years.
The same car was also caught speeding through a school zone four times in the same period.
Witness Jennifer Muñiz, who just came out of a bank before the sight happened, described Bruns’s reaction:
“When they took her out, she was just standing there, like nothing. No emotion. Not sad. Not crying. Not asking questions: ‘Is everybody all right?’ Not shaking. Nothing.”
“She was texting on her cell phone like nothing happened. Like she had just parked the car.”
The intersection has reportedly witnessed 10 traffic injuries since 2014. Scott Gastel, spokesman for the Department of Transportation, promised:
“We will immediately review the area for any safety improvements.”
Miles and Lew are both in stable conditions now.
Featured Photos via YouTube / The Tony Awards (Left) and Twitter / @leahfinnegan (Right)
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