TEA Fatally Struck On Job, Has Baby Before She Dies
By TOMMY HALLISSEY
A pregnant Traffic Enforcement Agent gave birth to a baby boy Aug. 14 just before dying of injuries sustained when two vehicles hit her while she was on duty in The Bronx.

DONNETTE SANZ

At about 2 p.m. Donnette Sanz, 33, was walking at the corner of East 188th St. and Webster Ave. when a 1986 Dodge van struck her. The vehicle pushed her into the path of a school bus traveling on Webster Ave., which also hit her. Ms. Sanz was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Did Brakes Fail?

Police arrested the driver of the van, Walter Walker, 72, and charged him with criminally negligent homicide and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. There were reports that he shouted that his brakes had failed just before the van struck Ms. Sanz.

"It's unfortunate that it can take a tragedy like this to remind everyone of the service our traffic agents perform every single day," Mayor Bloomberg said. "We should all go to bed tonight and say a prayer for all 2,500 of the NYPD's Traffic Agents — and especially for officer Sanz and her family."

Communications Workers of America Local 1182 President James Huntley said of Ms. Sanz, "As a union and community activist she devoted her life to making New York City a better place to live for all of us."

Ms. Sanz, who was in the seventh month of her pregnancy, delivered a three-pound boy by Caesarean section. "It is a terrible poignancy that Donnette's son's birthday will now coincide with the day his mother died," the Mayor said after meeting with Ms. Sanz's husband, Rafael. "I hope that as this child grows up, he comes to understand that his mother gave her life in service to our city, and that we are forever grateful."

Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly expressed gratitude on behalf of the department. "Traffic Enforcement Agents are among the most-important and least-appreciated public servants," he said. "Like her fellow TEAs, Sanz braved the elements and the often-dangerous streets every day to keep others safe. The Police Department mourns her passing and honors her service."