NYPD brings murder charge in Mother’s Day stolen dump truck hit-and-run that killed Queens mom: ‘Good for justice to be served’
The long-sought driver of a stolen box truck was busted for murder Thursday in a horrific Mother’s Day hit-and-run wreck that killed a revered Queens mom outside her home, authorities said.
Roosevelt Rose was behind the the box truck’s wheel when he set off a chain of events that killed Florence Ngwu, who was celebrating the May 8 holiday with her daughter, prosecutors charged.
The victim’s head was crushed between two parked cars as the suspect crashed repeatedly while trying to hang a U-turn and flee the cul-de-sac where Ngwu lived, officials said.
Inspector Sylvester Ge, head of the NYPD Highway District, said investigators worked “relentlessly” to build their case against Rose across five months.
But the victim’s niece said the family, while relieved by the arrest, was still left with the lingering pain of their loss.
“It’s still hard for me to accept what happened,” said the niece, Nnenna B. “It is good for justice to be served, for him to serve time for what he did. It’s not fair for anybody to just be able to do such a thing like he did and just get away with it, you know?”
The arrest was one of two Thursday involving Ge’s unit and wanted city hit-and-run drivers. The other suspect was nabbed for a June 25 wreck where a stolen vehicle killed a doting 67-year-old grandmother as she walked home from a Brooklyn park and critically injured her 8-year-old grandson.
Rose, 56, of Queens, faces a slew of charges, including murder, manslaughter, assault and leaving the scene of a fatal accident.
He was brought Thursday from the Nassau County Correctional Center for arraignment in a Queens courtroom, where Rose acknowledged he was already behind bars on multiple charges before declaring his innocence.
“This is the thing they’re accusing me of that I didn’t do,” said the unapologetic defendant. “So what do I have to say to the family? If I did something, then I would have something to say.”
The victim’s daughter Princess declined to speak with a reporter after attending the hearing. Rose was due back in court in December.
“This is a horrifying incident involving the heartbreaking death of a local mom on a day meant to be a celebration for her and her loved ones,” said Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
Ngwu was enjoying the holiday with her daughter when Rose repeatedly smashed the stolen Ford F-550 truck into her daughter’s car while trying to turn around in the tight space outside the victim’s home, cops said.
When the victim and her daughter raced out to see what happened, the driver turned the truck around and plowed recklessly into an SUV that slammed into another parked car, crushing Ngwu between the two vehicles. She died a day later at a local hospital.
“She was a very strong woman, a very fierce woman,” Princess, 24, told the Daily News after watching helplessly as the truck struck her mother one day before. “She trained us all really, really well. Her presence — there’s no replacing it. We’re just doing as best we can. She was a mom to everybody.”
Video obtained by the Daily News showed the driver of the truck, reported stolen from Pawar Builders in Elmhurst, slamming into Princess’ parked BMW eight times and dragging it as he tried to turn around at the end of the dead-end block.
He was arguing with a woman seated beside him as he attempted to navigate the turn, witnesses said. When the driver finally got the truck turned around, he plowed into a neighbor’s SUV, which careened into another parked car, pinning Ngwu as he sped off.
Though police said early on that they had identified a person of interest in the killing, no arrest was made until Thursday.
