A beloved avid bicyclist was killed in a hit-and-run crash by a burglary suspect trying to evade NYPD cops on his tail in Queens, police said Wednesday.
Amanda Servedio, 36, was mortally injured when the fleeing Dodge Ram driver rammed into her at 34th Avenue and 37th Street in Astoria around 11:10 p.m. Tuesday, authorities said.
Amanda Servedio, 36, was killed as a burglary suspect tried to flee. @aservedio4/facebookSurveillance video obtained by The Post showed the speeding pickup truck hit the passing cyclist at the intersection – seconds before a police cruiser pulled up with flashing lights.
The impact hurled Servedio from her ride and she slammed into a parked BMW 328i, police said.
“She’s such a lovely person. She’s a very sweet woman,” Rebecca Phillips, Servedio’s upstairs neighbor at her apartment building just blocks away, told The Post Wednesday.
“Oh my God! I can’t believe that. I just talked to her!” she said.
The bike at the scene of the incident. Kevin C Downs forThe New York PostCops were responding to a report of a burglary at 39th Avenue and Crescent Street in Dutch Kills — just over a mile away from the crash site and about 10 minutes earlier – when they spotted the pickup with a covered rear license plate, authorities and sources said.
The officers began following the truck, believing the occupants to be suspects in the burglary, and the driver sped away.
The police cruiser malfunctioned, so other units who had already been called as backup took over the pursuit, according to the sources.
Meanwhile, the fleeing motorist made it to the Astoria intersection, ramming into Servedio as she cycled by, cops said.
Officers immediately stopped following the suspect and tended to Servedio – who had suffered trauma to the head and body, sources said.
Cops arrive at the site of the fatal collision. Kevin C Downs forThe New York PostServedio – who worked as a senior tax accountant at a Midtown firm, according to her social media – was taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center and could not be saved, cops said.
Her mother appeared in distress, pushing through a crowd of reporters outside her daughter’s nearby home Wednesday as tears streamed down her face.
“That’s my daughter, that’s my daughter,” she said.
A cop approaches a black Dodge Ram abandoned at 47th St. and Newtown Road. Kevin C Downs forThe New York PostSeveral people hugged and consoled the grieving mother in the living room of the victim’s small apartment.
Servedio, who was originally from Arkansas, lived alone and moved to the building “a while ago,” said her neighbor, Phillips, 42.
Phillips said the two bonded over their dogs — Servedio’s black lab “that she loved very much,” who passed away a couple months ago.
Police at the scene where a cyclist was struck during a vehicle pursuit. William C Lopez/New York PostServedio “was a real cyclist,” according to Phillips.
“You regularly see her coming in and out with her bicycle on her shoulder. She did a lot of organized rides,” the neighbor recalled. “She rode a lot. And she rode with organized groups and you’d regularly see her coming in after these long organized rides walking up the stairs with [the bike on] her shoulder.”
Servedio tracked her rides on a website called Strava – which most recently shows a ride from Saturday that spanned about 14 miles. Another ride from a day earlier was about 26.5 miles long, according to the website.
“She was a super smart, super sweet person. Beyond easy to work with just a lovely person,” said Robert Arnold, a fellow CPA and former colleague who worked with Servedio for years at Cornick Garber and Sandler before she moved to Perelson Weiner LLP following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Police taking pictures of the crime scene. William C Lopez/New York Post“She was a dog lover and the pandemic was really great for her because she got to spend every day working from home with her dog and she really loved her dog,” he said.
“It made me physically ill when I heard this morning. I was sick to my stomach,” Arnold added. “It’s a tragedy… She was a better person and she just didn’t deserve anything like this.”
The driver in Tuesday night’s deadly crash, who had two passengers, took off and had not been caught by Wednesday afternoon, police said.
The ditched pickup truck was later recovered unoccupied, but no arrests had been made by Wednesday morning.
The investigation by the NYPD’s Collision Investigation Squad is ongoing.






