Police are investigating the death of 17-year-old apparently pushed by assailants into oncoming traffic on a frigid Monday evening in Bedford Park, according to police.

Officers from the 52nd Precinct and paramedics were called to 2669 Bainbridge Ave. between East 194th and East 196th Streets just before 6 p.m. on Dec. 10 for a report of a pedestrian struck.

The victim was struck by a white Ford Econoline ambulette that stopped at the corner of East 196th Street. One resident said the driver was seen “pacing back and fourth” after striking the teen. The driver of the vehicle was not charged.

The victim was transported to St. Barnabas Hospital with serious head trauma and died a short time later.

Police identified the victim as Angel Reyes-Godoy, 17, a resident of the block. The following morning the city Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) ruled Angel’s death a homicide.

“Investigators obtained a surveillance video of several teens or young men fleeing the scene,” said a police source, adding at least one of the young men has “already been identified.”

“[W]e’re currently looking for him at the home of several relatives,” said the source.

As Bainbridge Avenue was shut down to vehicular traffic for the investigation, one woman looking to park her car on the block, “These kids are going crazy, I swear.”

Asked if the group of teens and young men that often play basketball in the street during the summer months, are members of a gang, she replied, “I’m not going to talk about that.”

The area of Bainbridge Avenue and East 194th Street is notorious for drug deals. In October last year, seven people were rounded up and charged with distributing potent amounts of the opioid fentanyl. The incident happened in and around the area where Angel died.

“The kids sell drugs over there and we told the police about it during a meeting in the spring. They know about it,” said another resident.

Residents of the block said Angel had lived with several different friends on the block for the last two years after having reportedly migrated from Honduras.

One published report quoting a friend of Angel, stating that the victim had joined a gang, but had recently “tried to quit.”

Police had made no arrests by Tuesday afternoon.

The incident ranks as the seventh homicide for the 52nd Precinct this year. The Bronx still leads in homicides when compared to the rest of the city this year.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.