Pregnant Mom Injured in Car Crash Is a Tony Award-Winning Actress

March 6, 2018 6:59 p.m. ET

The driver, identified by a law-enforcement official as

Dorothy Bruns,

44 years old, also struck and killed 20-month-old

Joshua Lew.

His mother,

Lauren Lew,

was injured but later released from the hospital, the spokeswoman said.

Ms. Bruns, who hasn’t been charged, said she had a seizure at the time of the incident, according to law-enforcement officials. She was released after being taken to the hospital.

A Staten Island woman who identified herself as Ms. Bruns hung up on a reporter on Tuesday when asked for comment. A New York Police Department official on Tuesday said Ms. Bruns’s license had been suspended as a result of the incident and ongoing investigation.

Ms. Bruns inched her way to the middle of the intersection at Ninth Street and Fifth Avenue before accelerating west down Ninth Street and hitting the pedestrians, according to officials who saw video footage. Police believe the light was still red when the white Volvo hit the people, the officials said.

A search for Ms. Bruns’s license plate in the city’s database revealed 12 violations in the last two years, including four for failing to stop at a red light and four speeding violations in a school zone.

Before Monday, five pedestrians were killed on Ninth Street between Third and Eighth avenues by vehicles since 2003.

On Tuesday morning, a group of activists swarmed Mayor

Bill de Blasio

as he walked into his gym, the YMCA on Ninth Street in Park Slope. Mr. de Blasio hugged a mother of a child mowed down by a car in 2013 and spoke to

Doug Gordon,

a neighborhood advocate leading the demonstration. Mr. Gordon said the group wanted Ninth Street redesigned to have protected bicycle lanes and pedestrian islands built in the intersection to ensure safety.

The mayor told Mr. Gordon that he favored stricter punishment for traffic offenders.

“I don’t want the cops to arrest my children’s killer,” Mr. Gordon replied. “I want my child to not be killed.”

Since Mr. de Blasio’s pedestrian-safety plan, known as Vision Zero, began in 2014, pedestrian deaths have fallen by about half despite the city’s growing population. The 10-year initiative has included a mix of street redesigns and speed cameras.

Polly Trottenberg,

the city’s transportation commissioner, said road crews brightened faded crosswalk markings overnight at Ninth Street and Fifth Avenue. The city also is considering installing a pedestrian island at the intersection, and adding some kind of protection for the bike lane at the location, she said.

Many residents stopped by the scene on Tuesday to leave flowers. There was an outpouring of support from the theater community. A GoFundMe campaign to help Ms. Blumenstein already had received more than $225,000 in contributions by Tuesday afternoon—far eclipsing the $5,000 goal.

Ms. Blumenstein won a Tony Award in 2015 as a featured performer in the revival of the musical “The King and I.” She also has starred in off-Broadway shows, specifically as

Imelda Marcos

in the musical “Here Lies Love” about the former first lady of the Philippines.

Ms. Blumenstein had been scheduled to appear on March 15 at a concert as part of a group called Broadway Baby Mamas. As its name implies, the group consists of mothers who are Broadway performers.

Proceeds from the concert, to be held at Feinstein’s/54 Below in Midtown Manhattan, may now go to support Ms. Blumenstein, said

Cara Cooper,

one of Broadway Baby Mamas founders. “Our heart is broken for her,” she said.

Sara Ng, who owns a skin-care business next to Ms. Blumenstein’s Park Slope apartment, said Ms. Blumenstein and her daughter often would stop inside randomly to say hello.“ She’s very smart, very pretty,” Ms. Ng said of Abigail. “She was very lovely.”

—Mara Gay and Melanie Grayce West contributed to this article.

Write to Zolan Kanno-Youngs at Zolan.Kanno-Youngs@wsj.com and Charles Passy at cpassy@wsj.com