Driver Charged in Bronx Car Wash Worker's Fatal Hit-and-Run
At about 5:24 a.m. on Feb. 19, 2023, on Webster Avenue, police said a driver hit Felix Thomas Bontia as he dried a customer's Toyota at a 24-hour car wash; in 2025, Trina Bryant was arrested and charged.
What We Know
Felix Thomas Bontia, 47, was working at a 24-hour car wash on Webster Avenue in the Bronx before dawn on Feb. 19, 2023. The official record says one pedestrian was killed and one motorist was injured at 5:24 a.m., and it lists driver inattention or distraction in the crash. Police told reporters Bontia was drying a customer's Toyota RAV4 when a driver in a 2011 Ford Escape entered the bus lane, hit him and the Toyota, and left with a passenger after stopping down the block. EMS took Bontia to Lincoln Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. In July 2025, police arrested Trina Bryant, 32, and accused her of driving the Ford; news reports said she faced manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and leaving-the-scene charges, with the Post also reporting a vehicular manslaughter charge.
A worker was drying a customer's SUV before dawn
The official record places the crash at 5:24 a.m. on Feb. 19, 2023, on Webster Avenue and records one pedestrian killed and one motorist injured. News reports identified the pedestrian as Felix Thomas Bontia, 47, and said he was working at a 24-hour car wash when the driver of a Ford Escape hit him as he dried a customer's Toyota RAV4.
AMNY and the Post reported that the impact involved a parked, unoccupied Nissan Altima after the driver hit Bontia and the Toyota. The Daily News described surveillance video showing the Toyota being sent toward a car wash sign.
Felix Thomas Bontia was remembered as a quiet worker
The Daily News reported that Bontia was wearing a blue jacket and reflective vest while wiping down the driver's side of the Toyota. Car wash manager Milton Cardenas told the paper that Bontia was a good, quiet worker and said he had family in Mexico and two children.
EMS took Bontia to Lincoln Hospital, where officials pronounced him dead. Reports said the Toyota driver, a 58-year-old man, suffered minor injuries and was taken to a hospital in stable condition.
Reports agree on Webster Avenue but vary on the cross street
The city crash record lists Webster Avenue as the crash location. Press accounts placed the car wash on Webster Avenue but described it differently: AMNY wrote that it was in Concourse Village, the Daily News put it near East 167th Street in Claremont, and the Post placed it near East 168th Street in Morrisania.
Across those accounts, the shared location is a 24-hour car wash on Webster Avenue, where Bontia was working outside the business.
Investigators recorded inattention and speed factors
The official crash record lists driver inattention or distraction as a contributing factor for the crash. For the southbound Ford, the vehicle record lists driver inattention or distraction and unsafe speed.
The Daily News reported Cardenas's account that the driver ran a red light and was going over 60 mph, saying Bontia had no chance because he was hit from behind.
Police made an arrest more than two years later
In July 2025, police arrested Trina Bryant, 32, and accused her of driving the 2011 Ford Escape. The Daily News reported charges of manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and leaving the scene of an accident; the Post reported those charges and vehicular manslaughter.