Queens hit-and-run driver arrested for murder for dragging victim 3 blocks
More than a year after a 66-year-old man was fatally run over and dragged for nearly three blocks in Queens, the hit-and-run driver who bystanders begged to stop turned himself in to face murder charges Tuesday, officials said.
Warren Rollins surrendered at the 105th Precinct stationhouse in Queens Village for the Dec. 10, 2023, crash that killed Gary Charlotin.
Rollins, 49, ignored pleas from horrified onlookers begging him to stop, according to a law enforcement source.
Charlotin was crossing a rain-swept stretch of Hempstead Ave. near 221st St. about 8 p.m. when the driver of a 2004 Toyota Camry heading west rammed into him, knocking him into the east-bound lane.
A moment later, Rollins, driving a light-colored SUV, allegedly ran over Charlotin and came to a stop, idling for about two minutes, according to a police source.
As bystanders screamed at him to stop, Charlotin then took off, dragging the victim 1,588 feet before Charlotin finally came dislodged as the SUV reached an underpass for the Cross Island Parkway, the source said.
Dozens of mourners attended a funeral for Charlotin in February 2024. Some wailed in pain during the live-streamed ceremony. He lived in North Baldwin, L.I., according to cops.
A month after the fatal crash, cops arrested 38-year-old Osman Zavala-Varela, of Hempstead, L.I., who they identified as the driver of the Camry.
Cops charged Zavala-Varela with leaving the scene of a fatal accident and tampering with physical evidence. He was released without bail after being arraigned and is due back in Queens Criminal Court July 10.
Members of the NYPD's Collision Investigation Squad spent a year tracking down Rollins, finally identifying him as the man driving the light-colored SUV.
A Queens grand jury indicted Rollins on charges of depraved indifference murder, manslaughter, leaving the scene of a fatal accident and criminally negligent homicide before a judge issued a warrant for his arrest. He lives in Elmont, L.I., according to cops.
Rollins was arrested for drunk driving in 2014 and 2015, police sources said, but the outcome of those cases weren't immediately clear.
Rollins' arraignment on the murder charges was pending in Queens Criminal Court Tuesday.
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