A section of Central Avenue in Colonie was shut down until around 10 a.m. Saturday morning while police investigated two incidents that occurred overnight. YNN's Erin Moran spoke with one family who lives off that section of Central Avenue. They said both speeding and rowdy night-life are problems all too often associated with accidents on that street.

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COLONIE, N.Y. -- "It was horrific, a terrible accident," said Gerald Sackey, a resident of Colonie who heard commotion outside his home on Central Avenue around 3:30 a.m. Saturday morning, and looked to see what all the noise was about.

A pedestrian, who was in the road, was struck and killed by an 18-wheel tractor-trailer owned by the United States Postal Service.

When the driver got out of his truck to check on the victim police said he was attacked and assaulted in the road by more than one person.

"I just thought it was people arguing and fighting; but, when I finally looked, it was the guy stuck under the last two wheels," said Gerald Sackey.

Sackey and his family own the Lawrence Motel on Central Avenue, just in front of the location of Saturday's crash.

"No, it's not safe. It's not safe at all, not with the speeding that's going in this little area. I have an autistic child and we never let him walk out in the front by the street," said Sackey.

He adds that the bars in the area contribute to the issues at night, "They have a lot of bars in this area, you know, people drink and drive and they come out late at night, racing home."

And while he believes that police do the best they can with patrolling the area, in this case it just wasn't enough.

"If it wasn't for the people that were hollering and screaming and fighting, which caused a lot of time to pass by, the guy's life probably could've been saved," said Sackey.

The victim of the accident was identified as William Jennings, 28 of Schenectady. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The cause of the accident is still under investigation by the Colonie Police Traffic Safety Unit. But police still have no leads on the people who attacked the truck driver.

Colonie Police are asking that anyone with information or witnesses to the accident call them at 783-2744.