Hit-and-run driver kills pedestrian in Queens New Year crash
A Queens crash record says a pedestrian was killed and another injured at 102nd Street and 32nd Avenue at 4:07 a.m. on Jan. 1, while police accounts in the press described a hit-and-run driver in a white SUV hitting two men near 37th Avenue.
What We Know
Before dawn on New Year's Day, a driver in a white SUV hit two men crossing 102nd Street in Corona, according to police accounts published by several outlets. The city crash record logs one pedestrian killed and one pedestrian injured at 102nd Street and 32nd Avenue at 4:07 a.m.; those police accounts placed the impact near 37th Avenue just after 4 a.m. ABC7 later identified the man killed as Darwin Adrian Malan Cargua and the injured man as Luis Romero, and reported that the two friends were walking home from a New Year's Eve celebration. Police said the driver did not stop, and QNS reported no arrests as of Jan. 2.
Two records describe the same early-morning crash differently
The city crash record places the fatal pedestrian crash at 102nd Street and 32nd Avenue at 4:07 a.m. on Jan. 1, with one pedestrian killed and another injured.
Police accounts published by ABC7, the Daily News, the Post, NBC New York and QNS said a driver in a white SUV was traveling south on 102nd Street and hit two men crossing near 37th Avenue just after 4 a.m. The driver did not remain at the scene, those accounts said.
A memorial grew as one man remained hospitalized
ABC7 identified the man killed as Darwin Adrian Malan Cargua and the critically injured man as Luis Romero. The station reported that the two friends were walking home from a New Year's Eve celebration when the driver hit them.
Relatives and friends described both men as Ecuadorian immigrants. ABC7 reported that Malan Cargua worked in construction and that his family wanted help returning his body to Ecuador; Telemundo reported that Ecuador's consulate said it would help the family with repatriation.
Investigators sought a white SUV driver
Police said the driver in a white SUV left after hitting the two men, according to multiple reports. The Daily News reported that NYPD collision investigators were searching the area for surveillance video.
QNS, citing police, reported that after the driver hit the men, the first victim was thrown into a parked, unoccupied 2021 Honda Pilot and became pinned underneath it. The city crash record also lists a parked 2021 Honda SUV with rear-bumper damage.
Sources point to driver speed, flight and pedestrian movement
QNS reported that NYPD investigators determined the driver in the white SUV was speeding south on 102nd Street toward Roosevelt Avenue when the driver hit the two men in the crosswalk. ABC7 also described a speeding white SUV and said video showed the driver braking before leaving.
The city crash record lists the killed pedestrian as crossing in a marked crosswalk with no signal and records pedestrian error or confusion. The press accounts reviewed for this page emphasized that the driver left the scene and was being sought.
The recorded Queens location sits on a high-crash corridor
CrashCount's primary location for this case is 102nd Street and 32nd Avenue in Queens.
Along 32nd Avenue in Queens, CrashCount's location context counted 598 crashes, 353 injuries, 35 serious injuries and 4 deaths from Jan. 1, 2022, through June 1, 2026.
Police asked the public for tips
QNS reported that there were no arrests as of Jan. 2 and that the NYPD Highway District's Collision Investigation Squad investigation remained open. Police asked anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers.