Karina Larino, pictured, was fatally struck by a vehicle driven by Panagiota Arvanitopoulos, 73, on 21st Street on Friday, May 16. Arvanitopoulos was arrested for the crash Wednesday (TWUlocal100/Google Maps)
June 9, 2022 By Christian Murray
A 73-year-old Astoria woman was arrested on misdemeanor charges Wednesday for driving her car into a local mom near Astoria Park last month and killing her.
Panagiota Arvanitopoulos, of 27th Street, was arrested on charges of “failure to yield the right of way” and “failure to exercise due care” for fatally hitting a 38-year-old woman who was crossing 21st Street. Both charges are misdemeanors.
The incident took place at around 10:12 p.m. on Friday, May 6 when Arvanitopoulos was driving her 2005 Honda Element along Astoria Park South and then struck her victim, Karina Larino, while attempting to turn onto 21st Street.
She hit Larino, who lived on 21st Street, outside the marked crosswalk, according to police. Arvanitopoulos remained on the scene and was uninjured.
Cops responded to a 911 call and found Larino lying on the roadway with trauma to her head and body. She was taken to NYC Health and Hospitals/Elmhurst, where she was pronounced deceased.
Larino had worked for the MTA for 15 years and had a 20-year-old daughter.
Her death came less than 24 hours after another pedestrian was left in a critical condition having been struck on 31st Avenue. The victim, a 33-year-old man, was hit while crossing at the intersection of 31st Avenue and 33rd Street.
Larino’s death also came about a week after an 89-year-old woman succumbed to her injuries after being struck by a motorist while crossing 48th Street near Northern Boulevard in late April.
Councilmember Tiffany Cabán, who represents the Astoria district, commented on the deaths at the time, noting that more needs to be done to improve road safety and called for urgent improvements to be made.
We’re facing a dire crisis. Two heart breaking & preventable incidents in Astoria & too many more around our city. We need unprecedented investments in street infrastructure to improve safety & it starts w our more dangerous intersections.
If it saves lives, it’s worth doing. https://t.co/zVISOqAF7C
— Tiffany Cabán (@tiffany_caban) May 8, 2022
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