Driver Charged After Fatal Flushing Hit-and-Run
Prosecutors said Jamie Ferreira was speeding in a U-Haul truck during the Aug. 20, 2024, crash that city records place at Horace Harding Expressway and Kissena Boulevard, where David Opiela was killed and a motorist was injured.
What We Know
David Opiela, 56, was killed just after midnight on Aug. 20, 2024, at Horace Harding Expressway and Kissena Boulevard in Flushing. City records list unsafe speed in a crash involving a pickup truck and a sedan, with one pedestrian killed and one motorist injured. Prosecutors later said Jamie Ferreira was speeding in a U-Haul truck when she hit Opiela, hit another car and fled on foot with passenger Jennifer Sablan. Ferreira was charged in a 77-count indictment that included manslaughter, reckless driving, speeding and leaving the scene; prosecutors said Sablan also faced charges tied to items found in the truck.
A late-night crash killed a pedestrian in Flushing
City records place the crash at 12:29 a.m. on Aug. 20, 2024, at Horace Harding Expressway and Kissena Boulevard. The record lists one pedestrian killed, one motorist injured, unsafe speed and two involved vehicles: a pickup truck and a sedan.
Police initially told reporters that David Opiela, 56, was hit near the intersection after a Honda Accord traveling south on Kissena Boulevard and a U-Haul traveling west on Horace Harding Expressway were involved in a collision. EMS pronounced Opiela dead at the scene, and the 42-year-old Honda driver was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian Queens Hospital in stable condition.
The crash happened where Kissena Boulevard meets Horace Harding Expressway
The intersection is in Flushing, near Queens College. Gothamist reported that Flushing had recorded 440 collisions and five traffic deaths from January through July 2024, compared with 418 crashes and two deaths in the same period of 2023.
Prosecutors later alleged speeding and a hit-and-run
Queens prosecutors said Jamie Ferreira was speeding while driving a U-Haul truck on Horace Harding Expressway when she hit Opiela, hit another car and fled the scene on foot with Jennifer Sablan. The Daily News reported that prosecutors said Ferreira blew a stoplight, mounted the curb by a gas station and hit Opiela and a light pole before the later collision with the Honda driver.
Ferreira was charged in a 77-count indictment that included manslaughter, assault, reckless driving, speeding and leaving the scene of an incident without reporting. Prosecutors said Sablan also faced charges after investigators found items including a forged postal service key, counterfeit cash, stolen credit cards and personal identifying information in the truck.
Records and reports described the truck differently
City vehicle entries list a 2015 Ford pickup truck traveling west and a 2015 Honda sedan traveling south. News reports and prosecutors described Ferreira as driving a U-Haul truck or box truck, while the Honda driver was described as a 42-year-old man.
The difference matters for readers comparing public records and press accounts: the official record identifies the vehicle type as a pickup truck, while the reviewed articles consistently describe the fleeing driver as operating a U-Haul.
Investigators arrested two women months later
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said the NYPD, Postal Inspection Service and U.S. Secret Service helped track down Ferreira and Sablan about six months after the crash. Gothamist reported that both women were scheduled to return to court on March 13, 2025.