Driver extradited to face charges in fatal Ridgewood hit-and-run
The Last Delivery
Police say Florin Stoian struck DoorDash worker Be Tran and fled on Myrtle Avenue; the official record dates the fatal collision to 7:40 p.m. on August 14, 2022, and authorities extradited Stoian from Germany in 2026 to face charges.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
Police say Florin Stoian was driving east on Myrtle Avenue when he struck Be Tran, a DoorDash worker, on August 14, 2022. The official record logs the fatal collision at 7:40 p.m. and one pedestrian death. Reports describe the maneuver differently: the Daily News said police alleged Stoian crossed the double yellow line to pass a vehicle, while amNewYork reported that police said he swerved into the opposite lane while trying to bypass traffic. Authorities extradited Stoian from Germany in February 2026 and charged him with manslaughter and other offenses. Prosecutors also alleged he later set the BMW on fire; his lawyer told the New York Post that he was innocent.
Accounts differ on how the driver maneuvered
Police said Florin Stoian was driving east when he struck Be Tran as Tran crossed Myrtle Avenue. The Daily News reported that police said Stoian crossed the double yellow line while trying to pass a vehicle; amNewYork reported that police said he swerved into the opposite lane while trying to bypass traffic.
Reports also differ about when and where Tran was pronounced dead. amNewYork reported that responding EMS units later pronounced him dead; QNS and CBS reported he was pronounced dead at the scene. The official record counts one pedestrian death but does not establish when or where he died.
Reports name two nearby intersections
The official record places the crash on Myrtle Avenue at 7:40 p.m. on August 14, 2022. Reports place it in Ridgewood, but descriptions of the nearest intersection differ: amNewYork and QNS reported Myrtle Avenue and Hancock Street, while ABC7 and a separate QNS report named Myrtle and Seneca avenues. The reports do not resolve the difference. QNS later reported that Ridgewood residents rallied against traffic violence near the reported crash location.
Family remembered Tran's generosity
The official record identifies Be Tran as a 74-year-old pedestrian. Several reports also give his age as 74; ABC7's family-report text describes him as 75. ABC7 reported that Tran worked for DoorDash and immigrated from Vietnam in the mid-1990s. His daughter Tina said he taught her and her sister to drive and to be good people. His daughter Anh remembered him as “a very giving man,” and his nephew Quang said, “He raised me, more than my father.”
Reports identify a BMW, with differing detail
The official record lists a BMW traveling east and classifies it as a “Station Wagon/Sport Utility Vehicle.” Contemporaneous reports described a black BMW; the Daily News and New York Post later identified it as a BMW X6 SUV. The official record's combined category does not establish the vehicle's precise subtype. In 2026 reports, police accused Stoian of driving the BMW.
Stoian returned to New York to face charges
The Daily News reported that authorities extradited Stoian from Germany on February 11, 2026, and charged him with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, assault, arson, leaving the scene of a fatal accident, criminal mischief, tampering with evidence and reckless driving. A judge ordered him held without bail.
CBS reported that prosecutors alleged Stoian parked the car about a mile away, returned hours later and set it on fire to destroy evidence; the fire spread to other cars and homes. The New York Post reported that Stoian's lawyer, Todd Spodek, told reporters his client was innocent.