Driver Sentenced in Bedford Avenue Hit-Run That Killed Felix Mendez
At about 3:07 a.m. on Oct. 10, 2024, a driver in a northbound Jeep SUV hit 49-year-old pedestrian Felix Mendez at Bedford and Lafayette avenues; Jerry Gelle later pleaded guilty and was sentenced to five to 10 years in prison.
What We Know
Felix Mendez, 49, was killed at Bedford Avenue and Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn just after 3 a.m. on Oct. 10, 2024. The official crash record lists a northbound Jeep SUV and cites unsafe speed and traffic-control disregard. The Daily News reported that surveillance video showed Mendez crossing Lafayette Avenue with the light when a driver in a white SUV hit him, continued north on Bedford Avenue with Mendez carried about half a block, and left the scene. Medics took Mendez to New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where he died. In 2026, Jerry Gelle was sentenced to five to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.
A late-night crossing became a fatal hit-and-run
The official record places the crash at 3:07 a.m. at Bedford Avenue and Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn, where a 49-year-old pedestrian was killed and no other injuries were recorded.
The Daily News reported that surveillance video showed Felix Mendez leaving the Olive Tasty Deli with a white bag and crossing Lafayette Avenue westbound with the light. The report said a driver in a white SUV was speeding north on Bedford Avenue, hit Mendez, continued through the intersection, and did not stop.
Medics took Mendez to New York-Presbyterian Brooklyn Methodist Hospital, where he could not be saved, according to the Daily News.
Felix Mendez was close to home
Press reports identified the pedestrian as Felix Mendez, 49. The Daily News reported he was crossing Lafayette Avenue just down the block from his Bedford-Stuyvesant home, and the Post reported he lived on Lafayette Avenue.
The Post described Mendez as a Mexican immigrant who came to the United States around 1999. A friend and neighbor told the Post that Mendez had worked at a Broad Street restaurant and was funding construction of a house in Puebla, Mexico.
Records and reports identified a Jeep SUV
The official crash record lists a 2024 Jeep station wagon/SUV traveling north and going straight before impact, with one occupant. The record lists center front-end impact and damage.
News accounts used slightly different wording for the striking vehicle: the Daily News described a white SUV, the Post described a car, and the later sentencing report referred to Gelle in connection with the fatal crash on Bedford Avenue.
The police record cited speed and signal disregard
The official vehicle record listed unsafe speed and traffic-control disregard as contributing factors for the Jeep SUV. The Daily News account also reported that surveillance footage showed the driver speeding north on Bedford Avenue as Mendez crossed with the light.
Jerry Gelle pleaded guilty and was sentenced
The Brooklyn Eagle reported that Jerry Gelle, 32, was sentenced in May 2026 to five to 10 years in prison for causing the fatal hit-and-run crash in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The report said he had pleaded guilty on March 11 to second-degree manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.
Bedford Avenue has seen repeated harm
The crash happened at Bedford Avenue and Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn.
CrashCountNYC’s location review of Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn found 2,327 crashes, 1,544 injuries, 78 serious injuries, and 8 deaths from 2022 through June 1, 2026.