Dirt Bike Rider Dies After Mott Haven Crash With Parks Truck
Gregorio Arango, 43, died after a July 2, 2022 crash at Willow Avenue and East 138th Street, where police told the Daily News he was burned after crashing with a Parks Department truck.
What We Know
A city crash record says a 43-year-old male motorcycle driver was killed after a July 2, 2022 collision at Willow Avenue and East 138th Street in the Bronx. The Daily News, citing police, identified him as Gregorio Arango and reported that he was riding north in Mott Haven when he crashed with an NYC Parks Department truck, became pinned under the dirt bike during a fire, and died at Harlem Hospital on Aug. 8 from burns and other injuries. The city record lists a northbound Yamaha motorcycle going straight and a westbound 2019 Ford dump truck whose driver was making a left turn. The article says Arango hit the back of the truck, while the city record describes damage to the truck's left-side doors. The record attributes the crash to traffic-control disregard and also lists unsafe speed on the motorcycle driver's entry.
A July crash led to an August death
The city crash record places the collision at 7:03 p.m. on July 2, 2022, at Willow Avenue and East 138th Street in the Bronx and records one motorist killed. The Daily News identified the rider as Gregorio Arango, 43, and reported that he died at Harlem Hospital on Aug. 8 after suffering extensive burns and other injuries.
Police told the Daily News that Arango was riding north on Willow Avenue when he crashed with an NYC Parks Department truck near East 138th Street. The article reported that first responders put out a fire and took him to Harlem Hospital.
Willow Avenue at East 138th Street
The crash happened at Willow Avenue and East 138th Street in Mott Haven, in the Bronx zip code 10454.
CrashCountNYC location context for East 138th Street in the Bronx shows 684 crashes, 456 injuries, 25 serious injuries and 4 deaths from the start of 2022 through June 1, 2026.
Records differ on the point of impact
The city record describes the motorcycle driver traveling north and going straight on a Yamaha motorcycle. It describes the dump truck driver traveling west in a 2019 Ford truck and making a left turn.
The Daily News, citing police, reported that Arango hit the back of the Parks Department truck. The city record instead lists damage to the truck's left-side doors, while recording center-front damage to the motorcycle.
City data cites traffic-control disregard
The city crash record attributes the collision to traffic-control disregard. The motorcycle driver's entry also lists unsafe speed. The available sources do not report charges.
Shelter neighbors remembered Arango
The Daily News reported that Arango lived with his teenage daughter at a nearby family shelter. A shelter resident, Shamika White, told the paper that he was positive and often smiling, and neighbors helped set up a small memorial near the crash site.