Motorcycle Passenger Killed on Rockaway Boardwalk
At about 3:04 p.m. on Aug. 29, 2022, a westbound motorcycle rider on the Boardwalk near Beach 47th Street lost control, police told the Daily News, killing passenger David Molina and injuring a rollerblader.
What We Know
The official record lists a 2022 Qipai motorcycle traveling west on the Boardwalk, with two occupants, and records driver inattention or distraction as a contributing factor. Police told the Daily News that a 25-year-old operating a Qipai Hunier dirt bike was riding west on the Rockaway Beach Boardwalk with David Molina as a passenger when the operator lost control near Beach 47th Street, hit a bench and a 55-year-old rollerblader, and ran away on foot. Molina was thrown from the bike, hit his head, and died on the boardwalk, according to the report. The rollerblader was taken to Jamaica Hospital with a minor head wound. The Daily News reported that motorized transportation is prohibited on the boardwalk and that police were searching for the operator.
Police described a westbound ride that ended on the boardwalk
City crash data records the collision at 3:04 p.m. on Aug. 29, 2022, on the Boardwalk at Beach 47th Street, with one person killed and one person injured.
Police told the Daily News that the 25-year-old operator lost control, hit a bench and a 55-year-old rollerblader. They said David Molina, riding as a passenger, was ejected, hit his head and died on the boardwalk.
A boardwalk where motorized riding was barred
The official crash record places the collision on the Boardwalk at Beach 47 Street in Edgemere. The Daily News follow-up also reported that police placed the crash near Beach 47th Street; its first report placed the rollerblading man near Beach 49th Street.
Both Daily News reports said motorized transportation of any kind is prohibited on the boardwalk.
David Molina was remembered by family
The official record identifies the person killed as a 26-year-old male passenger. The Daily News identified him as David Molina and reported that his mother said he had planned to go to Brooklyn for a job interview.
The Daily News reported that the 55-year-old rollerblader was taken to Jamaica Hospital with a minor head wound.
The record and press account describe a Qipai motorcycle
The official vehicle record lists a 2022 Qipai motorcycle with two occupants, traveling west and going straight ahead before the collision. The Daily News described it as a Qipai Hunier dirt bike.
Driver inattention was listed as a factor
The city crash record lists driver inattention or distraction as a contributing factor. Separately, police told the Daily News that the operator lost control before the impacts.
The operator ran from the scene
The Daily News reported that the operator left the passenger and bike on the boardwalk and ran away on foot. Police were searching for him after the crash and had not caught him by the next day, the paper reported.