NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Police arrested an alleged hit-and-run driver who fatally struck an off-duty NYPD officer riding his motorcycle on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway on Wednesday.
Carlos Almanzar Toribio, 30, was charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, operating an unregistered vehicle, and operating without a license plate.
The crash happened near Exit 27 at Atlantic Avenue in Cobble Hill just before 8:30 a.m. as the officer was coming home from work.
According to the NYPD, the 30-year-old officer’s 2020 Yamaha motorcycle collided with a 2020 Freightliner box truck in the westbound lanes of the expressway.
The officer was thrown from the motorcycle, which burst into flames, sending a plume of smoke over the area.
The officer was rushed in critical condition to NYU Langone Hospital—Brooklyn, where he later died.
The BQE was shut down for several hours for the investigation, which remains ongoing.