A Westchester motorist was arrested following a fatal hit-and-run that killed a motorcyclist on the Clearview Expressway in Bayside Saturday night.
Alex Cruz, 23, of Dekalb Avenue in White Plains, was taken into custody in Fresh Meadows less than two miles away from the crash scene that closed the southbound Clearview Expressway south of Northern Boulevard for hours.
Police from the 111th Precinct in Bayside responded to a 911 call of a motor vehicle collision at 9:41 p.m. and discovered a 39-year-old man lying on the roadway unconscious and unresponsive near the wreckage of his motorcycle. EMS responded to the scene and pronounced the rider dead at the scene.
Further investigation by the NYPD Highway District’s Collision Investigation Squad determined that the dead man had been operating a 2012 BMW motorcycle southbound on the Clearview Expressway when he collided with the rear of a 2022 white Toyota Tacoma pick-up truck that was attempting to change lanes. After crashing into the truck, the motorcyclist struck a guardrail and was ejected from the bike to the pavement with severe body trauma, police said.
Cruz allegedly sped away from the scene and was later arrested at the intersection of the Horace Harding Expressway and Utopia Parkway in Fresh Meadows. He was charged with leaving the scene of an accident and aggravated driving without a license, according to the NYPD. The victim was not identified pending proper family notification.
