Queens hit-and-run driver fatally strikes 2 men riding moped together
Two men riding together on a moped were fatally struck by a hit-and-run driver Sunday morning — at the same Queens intersection where just two months earlier a pedestrian died after being mowed down by a city worker, cops said.
In the latest incident, the callous driver was headed west on 57th Ave. in a silver Volkswagen near 80th St. in Middle Village about 8:20 a.m., according to police.
At the same time, the moped-riding victims, who police said were in their 20s or 30s, were heading in the opposite direction in the eastbound lane of traffic, surveillance video from the scene shows.
The men ride just out of frame when the out-of-control Volkswagen appears on camera and careens toward a line of parked cars, video shows.
The Volkswagen catches fire as it hits two of the cars and comes to a stop.
Seconds later, the driver opens the door and flees the scene, the footage shows.
A man who lives on the block heard a “loud boom” that woke him up.
“There was two bodies that were laid out apart from each other,” said Jason Chen. “There was a couple of car accidents here previously, so I knew it was that.”
As the fire raged on and black smoke poured out of the Volkswagen, people in the background ran back and forth as they waited for first responders to arrive on the scene.
A police spokesman initially said the vehicle had not been located, but the abandoned, smoked-out car remained on the scene later Sunday afternoon.
Medics pronounced one of the victims dead on the scene and rushed the other to Elmhurst Hospital Center, where he died.
Cops were working to determine the identities of the two victims.
The Volkswagen driver is still being sought.
The crash happened at the same intersection where a city Department of Environmental Protection truck driver was arrested for fatally striking a pedestrian earlier this year.
DEP employee Roderick Mitchell, 38, was making a right turn off 57th Ave. onto 80th St. when he struck Natalia Garcia-Valencia, 43, about 8:30 a.m. March 12.
Garcia-Valencia died at Elmhurst Hospital.
She was a wife, a mother to two sons and healthcare worker who moved to the city from Northern Virginia, according to dozens of tributes on an obituary page for her.
Mourners remembered her as a supportive friend and parent who comforted the people in her life when they went through hards times.
One woman recalled moving to Queens during the pandemic, when she met Garcia-Valencia, who helped her navigate the move during lockdown and when the city opened back up.
Before her move to New York, Garcia-Valencia completed yoga teacher training, allowing her to instruct classes.
Mitchell was charged last month with failure to yield and failure to exercise due care and released without bail. The case against him is still pending.
Neighbors described the crash site as a dangerous, tight turn.
“People don’t slow down, [when they] come from the intersection they speed up,” said Chen. “That’s why there’s a lot of accidents.”
