Driver in Tesla sedan fatally strikes pedestrian on Third Avenue.

Police said the driver returned to the scene.

Patch reported that police identified the driver as 25 and said he was traveling north on Third Avenue in a 2023 Tesla four-door sedan when he struck Rodriguez. Police said the driver initially left but returned shortly afterward and remained at the scene.

The official crash record places the collision at 4:34 a.m. on Dec. 31, 2023, on Third Avenue and records one pedestrian killed. Patch reported that police said Rodriguez had severe head and torso trauma; medics took him to Mount Sinai Morningside, where he was pronounced dead.

Rodriguez was returning from a family celebration.

El Diario identified Rodriguez, 49, as a construction worker, East Harlem resident and father of three. It reported he was returning from his brother's birthday party and was about one block from home when he was struck.

His eldest daughter, Anah, 21, told El Diario she left him at her uncle's home around 1:30 a.m., where the birthday gathering was being held. She said that was the last time she spoke with him.

His daughter questioned the police account.

Patch reported that police initially said Rodriguez was already lying in the roadway when the driver struck him. El Diario reported that a police spokesperson did not explain how investigators reached that conclusion.

Anah Rodriguez told El Diario that police had not mentioned the account to the family. She said the family had assumed her father was walking in the street and questioned why he was lying there.

The investigation remained open as of Patch's report.

Patch reported on Jan. 3, 2024, that no arrests had been made and the NYPD Collision Investigation Squad was continuing to investigate.