Driver Hits Food-Truck Customers in Astoria; Three Killed
An 84-year-old Toyota driver hit two men standing near a food truck at 42nd Street and 19th Avenue in Astoria on Aug. 12, killing both pedestrians and himself, according to the city crash record and police accounts.
What We Know
An 84-year-old Toyota driver was traveling north on 42nd Street near 19th Avenue in Astoria on the morning of Aug. 12, 2025, when police said he hit two men standing by a food truck. The city crash record lists three deaths: two pedestrians and the driver. Press accounts identified the pedestrians as Joaquin Venancio-Mendez and Santiago Baires; QNS later identified the driver as Andrei Coman. Several outlets, citing police, witnesses, or video, reported speed and a stop-sign violation before the impact. amNewYork, citing sources familiar with the case, reported that the driver had recently suffered a stroke and may have had a medical episode. Police said the investigation continued.
Morning coffee stop turned fatal
The crash happened just after 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 12, 2025, at 42nd Street and 19th Avenue in Astoria. The official record lists three people killed: an 84-year-old male driver, a 70-year-old male pedestrian, and another male pedestrian.
Police told several outlets that the Toyota driver was traveling north on 42nd Street when he hit two men standing near a food or coffee truck. The 70-year-old pedestrian and the driver were taken to Elmhurst Hospital, where they were pronounced dead, while the other pedestrian was pronounced dead at the scene.
The three men who died
Press accounts identified the pedestrians as Joaquin Venancio-Mendez and Santiago Baires. Sources differed on Venancio-Mendez’s age, reporting him as 41 or 42; they consistently described Baires as 70. Family members told reporters that Venancio-Mendez had children and worked at Astoria Discount Tire, and that Baires was a father of eight and grandfather of 14.
QNS reported that the NYPD identified the driver as Andrei Coman, 84, of Sunnyside Gardens. The official crash record also lists the driver as an 84-year-old man.
42nd Street has a recent record of severe crashes
The crash happened at 42nd Street and 19th Avenue in Queens. CrashCountNYC’s location context for 42nd Street in Queens shows 227 crashes, 86 injuries, six serious injuries, and four deaths recorded since 2022.
Accounts differ on the later vehicle movements
The official record ties the fatal driver to a 2010 Toyota sedan traveling north and going straight ahead. It also lists a parked 1995 Chevrolet, a parked 2012 Volkswagen, and a 2025 Volvo whose driver was traveling south and making a left turn.
Several press accounts said the Toyota driver hit the two pedestrians and the food truck, then became involved with a Volvo whose driver was attempting a U-turn. QNS, citing a preliminary NYPD investigation, reported a different sequence involving a parked Volkswagen and a Volvo driver exiting a driveway.
Speed, a stop sign, and a possible medical episode
Witnesses and surveillance video described the Toyota driver moving at high speed before the impact. ABC7 quoted a witness who estimated the driver was going more than 60 mph, and the Daily News reported that the driver ran a stop sign at 19th Avenue.
amNewYork reported, citing sources familiar with the case, that the driver had suffered a stroke two weeks earlier, had been advised not to drive, and may have suffered a medical episode before the crash. Gothamist reported that the NYPD made no arrests as the investigation continued.
Families mourned and neighbors called for safer streets
ABC7 reported that wreckage had been cleared by Tuesday night and a memorial had begun for the victims. Family members and nearby workers remembered Venancio-Mendez as generous and community-minded, while Baires’s family described him as a hardworking landscaper who supported a large family.
Streetsblog reported that local elected officials and candidates posted calls for safer streets after the crash, including Council Member Tiffany Caban, who wrote that traffic violence is not inevitable.