Connecticut man Jorge Serrano, 30, has been sentenced to four to 12 years in prison for striking and killing a 19-year-old man riding a dirt bike on the Long Island Expressway in September 2021, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
Serrano pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide and vehicular assault last month.
“In pleading guilty last month, the defendant admitted to causing the tragic death of a fellow motorist on a Queens highway,” Katz said. “Rules of the road are not mere suggestions but laws that exist to help keep everyone on the road safe. The defendant has now been held to account for not abiding by these laws and sentenced by the court for his actions.”
Serrano, from Torrington, Connecticut, was driving westbound on the Long Island Expressway in the early morning on Sept. 11, 2021, when he struck a man on a dirt bike as well as a moped. The defendant’s vehicle dragged the victim on the dirt bike, Edwin Puma, approximately 100 yards on the highway, according to Katz. Serrano fled from the scene.
The second victim, the 23-year-old man on the moped, was taken to the hospital for a broken left leg.
Katz said that police officers found the defendant approximately 2 miles from the crash at Maspeth Avenue and 61st Street. When arrested, Serrano’s blood ethanol level was .16 — two times the legal limit. Serrano was also driving without a valid license, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles.
