Police from the 103rd Precinct in Jamaica are looking for a hit-and-run driver who struck a man on Hillside Avenue in Jamaica Hills during the early morning of Sunday, Oct. 5, and sped away from the scene. The 27-year-old victim died ten days later.
Police responded to a 911 call of a motor vehicle collision involving a pedestrian at 2:50 a.m. on Oct. 5, at the intersection of 170th Street and Hillside Avenue in Jamaica Hills. EMS rushed the victim to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was subsequently pronounced dead on Wednesday, Oct. 15. He was identified on Tuesday as Juan Gutierrez Ajpacaja of 149th Street in Jamaica, according to the NYPD.
Upon further investigation by the NYPD Highway District’s Collision Investigation Squad, it was determined that Gutierrez Ajpacaja was walking in the eastbound lane of Hillside Avenue when the driver of a dark colored minivan traveling eastbound on Hillside Avenue struck the victim and sped away from the scene in an unknown direction. No arrests have been made and the investigation remains ongoing.
Anyone with information regarding this fatal collision investigation is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at crimestoppers.nypdonline.org or on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) @NYPDTips. All calls and messages are kept confidential.
