Long Beach woman killed while crossing Park Avenue

A Long Beach woman was struck and killed by a car while crossing Park Avenue early Thursday morning, Long Beach police said.

The 63-year-old victim, Debra Batus, was pushing a baby carriage as she walked north on Pacific Boulevard at about 6:30 a.m. when she was hit by a female driver who was traveling west in a blue sedan, police said.

Responding police and firefighters initially believed that a baby might have been in the stroller and immediately began a search.

“We saw the stroller and did a frantic search for any children,” said Lt. Mark Stark, a spokesman for the Long Beach Police Department, adding that the victim had visited the nearby Bagel Café on East Park Avenue moments earlier. “We went into the Bagel Café and they said they never saw a child. She was pushing a stroller but there was no baby in it.”

Police determined that the victim had used the carriage to carry shopping items or personal belongings. She was transported to South Nassau Communities Hospital’s Emergency Department at Long Beach, where she was pronounced dead.

The westbound lanes of Park Avenue, between Maple and Pacific boulevards, were closed for hours and created heavy traffic as vehicles were rerouted before lanes reopened just before 10 a.m.

Stark said that the driver, whose name was not released, remained at the scene and was not charged. He added that no other vehicles were involved, but said the investigation is ongoing.

“At this point there is no criminality,” he said. “They did all the DWI and drug field tests, which turned out to be negative at the time. We are trying to obtain video from homes in the area to determine red or green lights."

*In an earlier version of this story, the victim's first name was misspelled based on information provided by Nassau County police. Her name is Debra, not Deborah. We regret the error.