Mercedes Driver Charged After DEP Worker Killed in Queens Crash
At Lefferts Boulevard and Atlantic Avenue, official records show one motorist was killed and two were injured; police told the Post that Errick Persaud drove a Mercedes into a DEP truck carrying city sewer maintenance workers.
What We Know
A late-night crash at Lefferts Boulevard and Atlantic Avenue killed a passenger in a city Department of Environmental Protection truck and injured two other motorists. Police told the New York Post that Errick Persaud, 24, drove a Mercedes-Benz sedan south on Lefferts Boulevard as two sewer maintenance workers traveled east on Atlantic Avenue in a DEP truck. The Post reported that the impact pushed the truck into a rollover and that the passenger was ejected and pinned underneath before being taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Persaud stayed at the scene, was treated for minor injuries, and was charged with vehicular manslaughter and DWI, the Post reported. City crash data records the fatal passenger as 36; the Post, citing police, reported the DEP passenger was 38.
A late-night collision involving a DEP crew
The crash happened at about 2:33 a.m. on July 6, 2023, at Lefferts Boulevard and Atlantic Avenue in Queens, according to the city crash record. The record lists a sedan traveling south and a box truck traveling east, with one motorist killed and two motorists injured.
Police told the New York Post that two Department of Environmental Protection sewer maintenance workers were in a truck heading east on Atlantic Avenue when Errick Persaud drove a Mercedes-Benz sedan south on Lefferts Boulevard and hit the truck’s driver side.
The DEP passenger died after the rollover
The Post, citing authorities, reported that the DEP truck rolled over and that the passenger was ejected and pinned underneath. He was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
The city crash record identifies the person killed as a male front passenger in the truck and lists his age as 36. The Post reported, citing police, that the DEP passenger was 38.
Police said the Mercedes driver stayed and was charged
The Post reported that Persaud, 24, stayed at the scene and was taken to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center with minor injuries. Police later charged him with vehicular manslaughter and DWI, according to the Post.
DEP Commissioner Rohit T. Aggarwala said the agency was devastated after one of its workers was killed on duty, and said the two sewer maintenance workers had been serving the city by keeping critical operations running around the clock.
Lefferts Boulevard has seen repeated severe crashes
The crash occurred at Lefferts Boulevard and Atlantic Avenue in Richmond Hill, Queens. CrashCountNYC’s location context for Lefferts Boulevard in Queens shows 709 crashes, 532 injuries, 26 serious injuries and 4 deaths since 2022.