A Queens grand jury indicted a New Jersey man for assault and a slew of other related crimes stemming from a 2023 hit-and-run collision in Astoria that seriously injured a motorcyclist.
Moustafe Taher, 21, of Rochelle Avenue in Roselle Park, N.J., was extradited back to Queens where he was booked at the 114th Precinct in Astoria on the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 28. Taher was arraigned in Queens Supreme Court hours later on a a 16-count indictment charging him with assault in the second degree, leaving the scene of an incident without reporting, tampering with physical evidence, falsely reporting an incident in the third degree, reckless endangerment, reckless driving and two counts of operating or driving a motor vehicle without a license, and a host of other traffic violations,
According to the charges and investigation by the NYPD’s Highway Collision Investigation Squad, on Nov. 18, 2023, Taher was behind the wheel of a 2022 Volkswagen Atlas SUV bearing New Jersey license plates, driving at a high rate of speed northbound on 29th Street in Astoria at approximately 5:44 p.m. Taher allegedly ran multiple steady red lights and as he approached Broadway, he blew through another steady red light and struck the victim, 26-year-old Deivy Memus Bustamante, who was traveling eastbound on Broadway on a 2023 Yamaha motorcycle.
The impact of the collision ejected Bustamante from the motorcycle and he landed at the opposite corner. He was immediately transported by EMS to Elmhurst Hospital, where he was listed in critical condition suffering from severe head and torso trauma. Butamante sustained multiple injuries including a cervical spine fracture and is still unable to walk without the assistance of a cane more than 26 weeks after the gruesome collision.
After the crash, Taher sped off on 29th Street and did not stop to render aid to Bustamante, according to the charges. Taher later ditched the Volkswagen in the vicinity of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in Woodside. Taher allegedly walked away from the vehicle with another individual and got into another SUV and drove off. At approximately 6:46 p.m., Taher called 911 and erroneously reported that the Volkswagen Atlas SUV had been stolen in the vicinity of 19th Avenue and 45th Street in Astoria more than two miles away from the scene of the crash near the bridge to Rikers Island.
The Volkswagen, which had been rented by Taher’s mother, was recovered in Woodside a few hours after the collision, missing its front license plate. The vehicle’s data recorder showed it had been going 43 mph at the time of the crash. The speed limit of 29th Avenue was 25 mph. At the time of the incident, Taher’s license had been suspended three times and he was not legally permitted to drive.
“As alleged, this defendant was driving with a suspended license, speeding and blowing through red lights when he hit a motorcyclist in Astoria and took off,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said. “He then filed a false police report claiming that his car had been stolen to evade responsibility.”
At arraignment, the DA’s office requested bail in the amount of $75,000 cash or $150,000 bond, as well as a license suspension and passport surrender. Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Hartofilis ordered the license suspension and passport surrender and set bail at $25,000 cash and $75,000 bond. He ordered the defendant to return to court on March 5.
“A long-term investigation by my Vehicular Homicide Unit led to the defendants identification and apprehension in New Jersey,” Katz said. “He was extradited to Queens to face the serious charges leveled against him by a grand jury.”
Taher was additionally charged with two counts of failing to obey a traffic control device, failing to stop at a steady red signal, operating a vehicle at unreasonable speed, driving in excess of the maximum speed limit and failing to stop at a sign. If convicted, Taher faces more than 15 years in prison.
