Oct. 15, 2015 Staff Report
A tractor-trailer driver who struck and killed a bicyclist in Maspeth yesterday has been arrested for driving under the influence of drugs and faces a slew of charges including criminally negligent homicide, according to police.
Dennis Forceri, a 57-year-old from Miller Place in Long Island, struck a 34-year-old Ridgewood woman with his rig at the intersection of 56th Road and 48th Street at 8:45 am, according to the NYPD.
Police discovered the victim, Anna Rodriguez, lying on the roadway with trauma to her head and body at 8:45 am.
Forceri was heading westbound on 56th Road and made a right onto 48th Street, when he stuck Rodriguez, as she was traveling westbound on 56th Road, according to an investigation by the NYPD’s Highway District Collision Investigation Squad.
EMS responded to the scene and transported Rodriguez to Elmhurst General Hospital, where she was pronounced deceased.
Forceri was arrested at the scene, according to police.
He has been charged with: Vehicular Manslaughter 1, Criminally Negligent Homicide, DWAI: Drugs, Aggravated Unlicensed Operator 3, Motor Vehicle Fail to Yield to a Bicycle, Motor Vehicle Violation, Failure to Exercise Due Care.
Maspeth location of incident
