A Queens grand jury indicted a Flushing woman and her friend from the Bronx for various crimes related to the August 2024 hit-and-run death of 56-year-old David Opiela, two blocks from his Queensboro Hill home.
Jamie Ferreira, 37, of 98th Street, was allegedly behind the wheel of a rented U-Haul truck speeding on the Horace Harding Expressway when she struck Opiela, who was standing on the sidewalk, struck another vehicle, and then ran from the scene.
Jennifer Sablan, 43, of Ellis Avenue in the Van Nest section of the Bronx, who was a passenger in the U-Haul, also ran from the scene of the fatal crash.
Police from the 109th Precinct in Flushing responded to a 911 call of a pedestrian struck at the intersection of Kissena Boulevard and the Horace Harding Expressway and found the abandoned U-Haul truck and Opiela. EMS responded to the location and pronounced him dead at the scene. A search of the truck revealed a forged postal key, a counterfeit $100 bill, multiple stolen credit cards, a stolen checkbook, and notebooks containing the personal and financial information of others, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Friday.
Ferreira was arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on Tuesday on a 77-count indictment charging her with manslaughter, burglary, criminal trespass, assault, and two counts of leaving the scene without reporting, in addition to other related crimes. Sablan was arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on Thursday. She and Ferreira were both charged with criminal possession of a forged instrument, criminal possession of stolen property, possession of burglar’s tools, and 59 counts of unlawful possession of personal identification information.
As alleged, a 56-year-old pedestrian was senselessly killed when he was struck by a speeding box truck operated by Jamie Ferreira,” Katz said. “The defendant fled the vehicle with her passenger, Jennifer Sablan, and the contents of the U-Haul truck revealed that the duo were involved in other crimes, including identity theft.”
According to the charges and investigation, on Aug. 9, 2024, the U-Haul truck was rented using an alias. Contact information used for the reservation was associated with both Ferreira and Sablan. On Aug. 20, at approximately 12:30 p.m., Ferreira was driving the rented 2015 Ford U-Haul box truck westbound on Horace Harding Expressway toward Kissena Boulevard. The vehicle was traveling at approximately 41 mph without activating its brakes when Ferreira allegedly mounted the curb and struck Opiela. After hitting the victim, Ferreira struck an overhead light pole and continued through a steady red light and through the intersection of Kissena Boulevard, where she crashed into a 2015 Honda Accord that was heading southbound towards the Long Island Expressway. The U-Haul jumped a sidewalk on the overpass, and Ferreira and Sablan allegedly exited the damaged box truck from its passenger door and ran away from the crash scene down Horace Harding Expressway.
Opiela sustained severe head and body trauma from the collision and was pronounced dead by emergency responders. The 42-year-old man who was behind the wheel of the Honda Accord was transported to New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.
DNA found on the truck’s steering wheel airbag was matched to that of Ferreira.
Following the execution of a court-authorized search warrant, investigators found several items inside the box truck, including a laptop computer, three cellphones, several metal keys and keyrings, a forged US Postal Service key, a flash drive, a checkbook, multiple stolen credit cards, a counterfeit $100 bill, a benefits card in Jennifer Ferreira’s name, and four notebooks filled with financial information such as the names, addresses and social security numbers of individuals, including some individuals who resided in an apartment building on Van Kleeck Street in Elmhurst. The building was the location of a burglary on June 28, 2024.
Ferreira allegedly gained entry into the Elmhurst apartment building during the early morning hours of June 28 and used a postal service key to take envelopes and packages out of residents’ locked mailboxes and packages from the mailroom.
“Thanks to the extraordinary collaboration between my office, the NYPD, the Postal Inspection Service, and the United States Secret Service, we were able to track down these defendants and charge them six months after the crash,” Katz said.
Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Hartofilis remanded Feriera into custody without bail, and he set bail for Sablan at $30,000 cash, $40,000 bond, and $40,000 partially secured bond. They were ordered to return to court on March 13. If convicted, Ferreira faces up to 15 years in prison on the manslaughter charge, up to 25 years to life in prison on the burglary charge, and additional prison time on the other felony charges. Sablan faces up to 7 ½ to 15 years in prison if convicted.
