NYPD identifies gunman wanted for killing Bronx father of 4 during road rage clash
NYPD detectives have identified the suspect who shot down a father of four during a bizarre road rage clash on the Cross Bronx Expressway last summer, police said Friday.
Joseph Espinal, 26, is being sought for fatally shooting Fausto Rodriguez after a small fender-bender by the Jerome Ave. exit in Morris Heights on Aug. 25.
Rodriguez, 40, was driving his Honda Accord when Espinal, riding in a stolen Ford Edge, rear-ended him around 11 p.m.
Both cars pulled over onto the shoulder as Rodriguez began recording the scene and the damage to his vehicle.
Espinal and his passengers abandoned the Ford Edge and ran off, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said at the time.
“The driver of that car states to the victim, ‘This is a stolen car — you deal with it,’ and gets in another car and drives off,” Kenny said.
But a short time later, Espinal returned to the scene with another man in a Rav 4 and tried to get something from the stolen Ford Edge, cops said.
Rodriguez tried to stop him — and was killed for it.
“The victim says, ‘No, you’re not taking anything out of that car — we’re waiting for the police’ — and he starts to record them,” Kenny said. “An argument ensues, a firearm is produced. He is shot and killed.”
Espinal and the Rav 4 driver sped off and remained at large Friday, police said.
Police released a mugshot of Espinal in the hopes someone recognizes him.
Since the killing, Rodriguez’s friends and family have been trying to come to grips with his death.
“We can write a book about Fausto and who he was and … what he meant to us. Fausto was a brother to all of us. We can’t comprehend,” said his boss Boris Alexander, 44, of Xtreme Quality, the Mount Eden auto shop where Rodriguez worked as operation manager.
“He was the centerpiece,” said Alexander. “Fausto was kind of the glue that held all of us together. It’s really a huge loss. It’s been devastating.”
Anyone with information regarding Espinal’s whereabouts is urged to call NYPD Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.
