Guyanese killed in NY hit-and-run

Jun 01, 2016 News

…two weeks from becoming US citizen

Rotterdam, New York – Family members say they have no idea why Inshan Ali was perhaps at a bar on Hamburg Street Sunday night. Rotterdam Police say his car was parked there, but the bar owner insists he hadn’t been inside.

Hit-and-run victim: Inshan Ali

At the same time, there’s a neighbour who lives several buildings down from the bar who said Ali wound up in front of his house just before midnight looking for help.
What Rotterdam detectives know for sure is that 47-year-old Ali of Schenectady was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver on Hamburg Street. And while many questions remain, neighborhood residents don’t seem at all surprised that the tragedy occurred.
“Late at night you got motorcycles screech through here, you’d think you’re around a motor cross raceway,” said Mozelle Peterson, who has lived on Hamburg Street for eight years.
“It’s constant,” Nino Tortorici, another Hamburg Street resident, adds, “Night and day. Doesn’t care what time it is. They do it just to do it.”
However in this case, there seems to be, at the very least, circumstantial evidence that someone did it not by accident, but with intent.
“I was trying to go to sleep and I heard a thud,” said Gail Bassi, who says Ali’s body wound up face down directly in front of her Hamburg Street home.
One of Bassi’s neighbour’s actually encountered Ali before he died. That resident, who asked not be identified, says Ali was causing a commotion in front of his house just before midnight, screaming that someone was trying to kill him. A few minutes later, Ali was dead.
Rotterdam Police confirm that they’re following that lead. They have also acquired surveillance footage from nearby businesses.
Family members told News Channel 13 that Ali was a hard working father of two, a Guyanese immigrant who didn’t have an enemy in the world. He was reportedly two weeks away from becoming a US citizen.
“When I went over, you could see the young guy was deceased,” Peterson says.
Peterson wonders why he didn’t hear any brakes screeching or engines revving before the impact. He also says other people at the scene were acting defensive for no apparent reason.
“They were saying something about we don’t want to be a party to something (involving) a crime we didn’t commit.”
Rotterdam Police are searching for a white SUV, possibly a Honda Pilot, that has heavy damage to the passenger side, including a shattered windshield.