Driver charged after 5-year-old dies in East Elmhurst hit-and-run
Police said Xavier Carchipull was arrested after a driver in a Dodge Ram pickup hit 5-year-old Jonathan Martinez at 100 Street and McIntosh Street, where city data records one pedestrian death.
What We Know
On Sept. 1, 2022, at about 5:28 p.m., a driver in a pickup made a left turn at 100 Street and McIntosh Street in Queens and hit a 5-year-old boy crossing at the intersection, according to city crash data. News reports identified the child as Jonathan Martinez and said the driver left the scene as Jonathan's family watched. EMS took Jonathan to Elmhurst Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Police later arrested Xavier Carchipull and charged him with leaving the scene resulting in death and several vehicle-related offenses. Press accounts differ on the exact crossing path and turn: reports variously describe Jonathan as crossing 100th Street or McIntosh Street, while the city record places the pedestrian at the intersection and says the driver was making a left turn.
A left-turning driver hit a child at the intersection
City crash data records one pedestrian death at 100 Street and McIntosh Street in Queens at 5:28 p.m. on Sept. 1, 2022. The record says the pickup driver was making a left turn, and it lists the point of impact as the right front bumper.
News reports identified the child as 5-year-old Jonathan Martinez. Police told the Post that Jonathan was crossing 100th Street with his parents when the driver in a white Dodge pickup turned onto the block and hit him. The Daily News reported that he was crossing at 100th Street and McIntosh Street as his father held his hand, and later described surveillance footage showing a Dodge Ram pickup driver making a looping left turn as the family crossed.
Jonathan Martinez was near home with family
The Post reported that Jonathan lived about a block from the crash scene. His father, Richard Martinez, said Jonathan had been on his way home from the park with his father and siblings.
Richard Martinez later pleaded for the driver to surrender, telling the Post in Spanish, "I forgive you, we are human. All I ask is turn yourself in to authorities." Jonathan's mother, Jennifer Erez, told the Daily News after the arrest, "We just want justice."
100th Street has seen repeated crashes since 2022
The crash happened at 100th Street and McIntosh Street in Queens. CrashCountNYC's location context for 100th Street in Queens counts 194 crashes, 103 injuries, 7 serious injuries and 2 deaths from 2022 through June 1, 2026.
Police arrested a driver nearly three weeks later
The Daily News reported that police identified Carchipull early in the investigation and tried to negotiate with him. The same report said warrants officers arrested him at his Astoria home.