Driver Charged After Bronx Hit-and-Run Kills E-Bike Rider
Police said Edward Montero was charged with manslaughter nearly a year after a Feb. 23, 2024 crash at Melrose Avenue and East 161st Street that killed 24-year-old e-bike rider Thierno Balde.
What We Know
Thierno Balde, 24, was killed shortly before 6 a.m. on Feb. 23, 2024, at Melrose Avenue and East 161st Street in the Bronx. The city crash record lists an SUV and an e-bike and says one cyclist was killed. Police told reporters Balde was riding east on East 161st Street when a driver in a Jeep Grand Cherokee, traveling on Melrose Avenue, hit him and left the scene. In February 2025, police said Edward Montero had been arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter and leaving the scene without reporting. The official record lists unsafe speed and disregarding traffic control as contributing factors. Early Post coverage described video of a woman leaving the SUV after the crash; later police coverage identified Montero as the driver arrested in the case.
A morning ride ended in a fatal hit-and-run
The city crash record says the crash happened at 5:58 a.m. on Feb. 23, 2024, at Melrose Avenue and East 161st Street. It lists one person killed: a 24-year-old male e-bike rider.
Police told Gothamist that Thierno Balde was riding along East 161st Street when a driver in a Jeep Grand Cherokee hit him at Melrose Avenue and left the scene. Balde was taken to NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln, where he was pronounced dead.
East 161st Street has seen repeated harm
The crash happened at Melrose Avenue and East 161st Street in the Bronx. CrashCountNYC location context for East 161st Street in the Bronx shows 588 crashes, 369 injuries, 28 serious injuries and 2 deaths since 2022.
Balde was new to New York and headed to prayer
Mamadou Balde told the Post that the family wanted the driver to come forward. “She just wants justice,” he said of their mother.
Police and the city record cited traffic control and speed
Police told reporters that Balde crossed eastbound after disregarding a red light, while the driver was traveling on Melrose Avenue. The city crash record lists traffic control disregarded and unsafe speed as contributing factors.
The official record describes the other vehicle as a 2024 Jeep SUV and the e-bike as a Fly E-Bike. It records front-end damage to the SUV and demolished damage to the e-bike.
Police later arrested Edward Montero
The public accounts do not align on one detail: the Post’s early coverage said surveillance video showed a woman leaving the SUV after it stopped and began smoking, while AMNY later reported that police identified Montero as the driver arrested in the case.