Driver Charged With Murder in Hempstead Avenue Pedestrian Death
A 66-year-old pedestrian died on Hempstead Avenue in Queens after drivers in a sedan and an SUV were involved in a Dec. 10, 2023 crash, and prosecutors later charged Warren Rollins with murder in the alleged dragging death.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
Gary Charlotin, a 66-year-old pedestrian, was killed on Hempstead Avenue in Queens on Dec. 10, 2023. The city crash record lists a sedan and an SUV, both with driver inattention or distraction recorded as contributing factors. Police and prosecutors later described a two-driver hit-and-run: one driver hit Charlotin as he crossed Hempstead Avenue, and prosecutors alleged Warren Rollins then drove over him, paused, and drove away while dragging him. Osman Zavala-Varela was arrested in January 2024 in connection with the first impact, while Rollins surrendered in June 2025 to face murder and related allegations.
A two-driver hit-and-run account emerged after the fatal crash
The official crash record says one pedestrian was killed on Hempstead Avenue at 8:05 p.m. on Dec. 10, 2023, in a crash involving a sedan and an SUV. The record lists the pedestrian as a 66-year-old man.
CBS New York reported that police said Gary Charlotin was crossing Hempstead Avenue when a driver hit him and did not stop, and that a second driver then hit him while he was on the ground and also left the scene. The Daily News later reported that prosecutors alleged Warren Rollins drove over Charlotin, stopped for more than two minutes, and then drove away while dragging him.
Hempstead Avenue near the Cross Island Parkway
The official record places the crash on Hempstead Avenue in Queens. News accounts place the scene near 221st Street or 223rd Street, and the Daily News reported that the dragging continued toward an underpass for the Cross Island Parkway.
Streetsblog described Hempstead Avenue in eastern Queens as a notorious roadway and reported that, in 2023, 118 crashes occurred on the short stretch west of the Cross Island Parkway, injuring 50 people.
Arrests followed months apart
CBS New York reported that police arrested Osman Zavala-Varela, 36, of Hempstead, in January 2024 and charged him with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and failure to obey a traffic signal. Streetsblog also identified Zavala-Varela as the driver police said was connected to the first impact.
The Daily News reported that Warren Rollins, 49, surrendered at the 105th Precinct in June 2025 for the crash that killed Charlotin. Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said the alleged conduct showed a "complete disregard for human life."
Gary Charlotin was mourned after his death
The Daily News and CBS New York identified the pedestrian as Gary Charlotin of North Baldwin. The Daily News reported that dozens of mourners attended his funeral in February 2024.