Drivers Hit Bronx Pedestrian on White Plains Road; One Charged
Police said Adam Vilajeti and another driver hit 22-year-old Wilbert De Jesus Cordero at White Plains Road and Archer Street early Feb. 4, 2024; city records show the crash killed one pedestrian.
What We Know
Wilbert De Jesus Cordero, 22, was crossing White Plains Road near Archer Street around 4 a.m. when police said a 24-year-old Mercedes driver headed south hit him. Police said Cordero was thrown into northbound lanes, where Adam Vilajeti, driving a 2017 BMW, hit him. City records show one pedestrian was killed and no other injuries were recorded. Cordero was taken to Jacobi Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Police said Vilajeti left the scene and was arrested hours later on charges of leaving the scene of an accident and driving while intoxicated. The Mercedes driver stayed and had not been charged as of the reports.
Police described two impacts on White Plains Road
Police said Wilbert De Jesus Cordero was crossing White Plains Road near Archer Street when a 24-year-old man driving a Mercedes southbound hit him. Police told reporters Cordero was thrown into the northbound lanes, where Adam Vilajeti, driving a 2017 BMW, hit him.
The city crash record lists the time as 4:06 a.m. on Feb. 4, 2024, and records one pedestrian killed, with no other injuries reported.
A deadly crash on a Bronx corridor with a long injury record
The crash happened at White Plains Road and Archer Street in the Bronx. CrashCountNYC’s street context for White Plains Road in the Bronx shows 1,726 crashes, 1,180 injuries, 84 serious injuries and 7 deaths since 2022.
Cordero lived near the crash scene
Cordero was 22. Police told reporters he lived about a block, or just steps, from where he was hit. The New York Post reported that his employer said Cordero had recently arrived in the Bronx from the Dominican Republic and had recently started working at his store.
Police arrested the BMW driver after he left, reports said
Police said Vilajeti, a Scarsdale resident, left the scene and was later arrested. Gothamist reported that officers charged him with leaving the scene of the crash and driving while intoxicated; the Post reported he was arrested about three hours later.
The official vehicle record lists alcohol involvement for the BMW driver. Police told reporters the Mercedes driver remained at the scene and had not been charged as of the next day.
Cordero died at Jacobi Medical Center
First responders took Cordero to NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi, where he was pronounced dead, according to police accounts cited by both news reports.