A Southeast Queens driver was killed in a chain reaction collision near Flushing Meadows Corona Park on the morning of Friday, Feb. 6.
Police from the 110th Precinct in Elmhurst responded to a 911 call of a motor vehicle collision just before 4:30 a.m. on the westbound Long Island Expressway just past the College Point Boulevard exit. EMS responded and rushed the 50-year-old man to New York-Presbyterian Queens Hospital in Flushing, where he was pronounced deceased. He was later identified as Carlos Astimbay of 146th Street in Jamaica.
Further investigation by the NYPD Highway District’s Collision Investigation Squad determined that Astimbay was behind the wheel of a 2014 Toyota Camry traveling westbound on the LIE near Exit 22B when the vehicle collided with the center median. A 52-year-old truck driver operating a 2018 Kenworth tractor trailer was also traveling westbound on the LIE when he smashed into the Toyota. The truck driver remained on the scene and was also taken to New York-Presbyterian Queens Hospital, where he was listed in stable condition.
There are no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing by the NYPD Highway District’s Collision Investigation Squad.
