Latest news with #CollisionInvestigationSquad
Yahoo
4 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
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.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Yahoo
NYPD nabs hit-run driver they say killed bicyclist while fleeing Harlem car stop
Cops have nabbed a speeding hit-and-run driver who fatally struck a Harlem bicyclist while fleeing an NYPD car stop in a stolen minivan four months ago, police said Thursday. Facial recognition technology helped police identify Enesin Delarosa, who was charged Wednesday with manslaughter, leaving the scene of a fatal crash, fleeing police and possession of stolen property for the Nov. 2 crash. Delarosa, 26, is accused of mowing down bicyclist Devon Hughley, 45, near W.155th St. and St. Nicholas Ave. while fleeing the car stop. He sped off when police tried to pull him over for a traffic infraction at W. 152nd St. and Broadway, cops said. Medics rushed the bicyclist to Harlem Hospital but he could not be saved. 'Devon's greatest joy in life was his family, especially his children, whom he loved beyond words,' an obituary for the victim says. The lifelong Harlemite leaves behind four children and a stepson, the obituary says. The victim as a child 'was seen in popping wheelies in his aunts wheelchair, which he'd later go on to do with motorcycles and four wheelers in countless videos,' his obituary says. 'He was definitely one of the best to do it in the streets of Harlem, his home town. Devon was always, unintentionally, the life of the party!' During their investigation, members of the NYPD's Collision Investigation Squad recovered surveillance video of the van driver. Using facial recognition technology, cops were able to get a tentative ID, which was confirmed by a police officer who had dealt with Delarosa previously, a police source said. After a Manhattan Grand Jury indicted him for the crash, cops arrested Delarosa at a court appearance for an unrelated crime. Delarsoa lives in the Bronx and has numerous prior arrests for grand larceny and stolen property, cops said. Records show he was paroled in June 2020 after serving seven months in state prison for a Bronx stolen property conviction. He was awaiting arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court Thursday. The minivan was stolen in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx about 10 days before the crash, police said. Cops later learned two people on a scooter were seen checking vehicles for unlocked doors before the minivan was stolen. Cops have not yet proven if Delarosa was one of the men on the scooter and so he is charged with possession of the stolen van but not with stealing it. In addition to being a devoted dad, Hughley had three dogs who 'were not just pets but beloved family members and companions through every season of life,' his obituary says. 'He always made sure his dogs felt cherished, protected and loved. They were his solace. They kept him grounded and sane in the midst of insanity that this world could sometimes display.' It wasn't clear if cops pursued Delarosa when he fled the Harlem car stop but the fatal crash renewed concerns that the NYPD, which in 2023 decreed it was done letting suspects routinely speed away from them, is too aggressive in pursuing suspects in vehicles. In January, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch revised that approach, limiting chases only to suspects who have committed a felony or violent misdemeanor.
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Yahoo
Unlicensed Mercedes driver nabbed for 2024 hit-run Queens crash that killed MTA worker
An unlicensed driver has been nabbed a year after cops say he abandoned his mangled Mercedes-Benz on a Queens expressway and fled a hit-and-run crash that killed an MTA supervisor who was on his way to work. Members of the NYPD's Collision Investigation Squad arrested James Vennitti, 63, on Tuesday for the Feb. 10 crash on the Whitestone Expressway that left 43-year-old David Berney dead. 'Happy beyond words — there are no words to describe,' Berney's sister Monserrate Berney-Glover, 53, said Wednesday of the arrest after 12 excruciating months. 'When this had initially happened we spoke about the unfortunate circumstance that a lot of these cases don't get any resolution … We get to see who caused the pain for the family.' Her brother was driving his silver Scion north on the expressway on his way to work as an MTA track supervisor when he got into a fender-bender with a 28-year-old man driving a Toyota RAV4, cops said. The two men stopped their cars in the middle lane and were checking out the damage when Vennitti allegedly slammed his Mercedes into the rear of Berney's car about 6:15 a.m. Relatives said Berney had just returned to his vehicle and was thrown from the driver's seat onto the pavement when he was rear-ended. Berney died at the scene. The 28-year-old RAV4 driver was knocked to the ground in the crash and treated at a nearby hospital. Vennitti drove off in his damaged Mercedes, which he ultimately abandoned further down the expressway before running off, according to cops. He lives in Bay Terrace, about three miles from where the crash occurred. 'You just can't take a life and think you can live your life without any payback,' Berney-Glover told the Daily News a year ago after the crash. 'Hopefully somebody somewhere sees it or knows what happened.' 'My brother is about 6-foot-1 [and] 220, 230 pounds so for you to be ejected from a car, how hard was your car hit?' she added. 'He wasn't a small man.' A co-worker of Berney's heading north on the Whitestone Expressway a short time later recognized the track worker's car and alerted the MTA worker's family, Berney-Glover recalled. 'Another supervisor eventually called [Berney's sister] and said, 'Hey, we think he had an accident on the highway,'' Berney-Glover recounted. 'The supervisor said he hasn't gotten here.' A grand jury indicted Vennitti on charges of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and driving without a license after NYPD detectives determined he was the one driving the Mercedes at the time of the crash. He was ordered released without bail following his arraignment in Queens Criminal Court Tuesday. Berney was raised in Inwood, Manhattan, and later married and had a son, who is now middle school-aged. The family lived together in Jackson Heights He worked for the MTA for about 15 years before his death and had recently begun talking about retirement, his sister said. 'He's missed,' Berney-Glover said Wednesday. 'I don't think you can kind of quantify that.'
