An allegedly drunk driver has been charged with DWI and vehicular manslaughter after fatally striking a 19-year-old man in a hit-and-run crash on the Long Island Expressway in Queens early Saturday morning, according to authorities.
Law enforcement sources said the collision happened at about 3 a.m. on Sept. 11 along the expressway’s westbound lanes near the Woodhaven Boulevard exit in Elmhurst.
Based on a preliminary investigation, police determined that the 19-year-old man was on board a dirt bike, and a 23-year-old man was operating a moped, westbound on the highway when they were both struck from behind by the driver, who operated a silver sedan.
Despite knocking both victims to the roadway, cops said, the driver did not stop the vehicle, which fled the scene.
Officers from the 110th Precinct and the NYPD Highway Patrol, in responding to a 911 call about the crash, found both male victims lying on the roadway with trauma to their bodies.
EMS rushed the victims to Northwell Forest Hills Hospital, where the 19-year-old man was pronounced dead; police have withheld his identity, pending family notification. The 23-year-old man was listed in stable condition.
Shortly after the crash, police reported, officers located the suspect and the silver sedan within the confines of the nearby 104th Precinct. The driver, later identified as 30-year-old Jorge Serrano of Torrington, Conn., was taken into custody without further incident. He faces charges of DWI, leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and vehicular manslaughter, among other charges, police said.
