A DEP driver was charged after a fatal Queens pedestrian crash.
Police told QNS that a city Department of Environmental Protection driver turned right from 57th Avenue onto 80th Street and struck Natalia Garcia-Valencia; the city crash record says the March 12, 2024, collision at 8:31 a.m. killed one pedestrian, and QNS later reported the driver was charged.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
A DEP driver traveled east on 57th Avenue and turned right onto southbound 80th Street, striking Garcia-Valencia as she crossed with the signal, according to police reporting and the city crash record. QNS reported she was taken to Elmhurst Hospital and pronounced dead there; the official record lists one pedestrian death and a failure-to-yield factor. QNS later reported the driver was charged with failure to yield and failure to exercise due care.
The driver turned as Garcia-Valencia crossed.
Police told QNS that the DEP driver was traveling east on 57th Avenue and turned right onto southbound 80th Street, striking Garcia-Valencia. Streetsblog also reported that he struck her as she crossed 80th Street; the official record says she was crossing with the signal.
QNS reported that EMS took Garcia-Valencia to Elmhurst Hospital, where police said she was pronounced dead. The official crash record records one pedestrian death in the collision.
Garcia-Valencia was a Middle Village resident.
QNS identified Natalia Garcia-Valencia, 43, as a Middle Village resident. The official record identifies a 43-year-old pedestrian killed while crossing with the signal.
The intersection had a history of reported crashes.
The crash happened at 57th Avenue and 80th Street in Queens; QNS placed the intersection near Elmhurst Park.
Streetsblog, citing city records, reported 10 crashes there from 2020 through 2023 that injured 16 people, including five cyclists and two pedestrians. It also reported that a council member called for a Department of Transportation evaluation.
Reports identify the city truck by model and type.
QNS reported that the driver was operating a city-owned 2022 Ford F-750. The official crash record classifies the involved vehicle as a dump truck.
The records list failure to yield.
The official crash record lists failure to yield right-of-way as a contributing factor; its vehicle record also lists oversized vehicle. QNS and Streetsblog reported that trucks may make the right turn from 57th Avenue onto 80th Street only for local deliveries.
The driver was charged after the investigation.
Streetsblog reported that the driver remained at the scene and had not been charged in this crash at the time; it said police held him on an unrelated 2013 warrant. QNS later reported that he surrendered at the 110th Precinct nearly a month after the collision and was charged with failure to yield and failure to exercise due care. His arraignment was pending in that report.
The reports give the driver's name in different orders: QNS uses Roderick Mitchell, while Streetsblog uses Mitchell Roderick. Both describe him as a 38-year-old DEP driver from Valley Stream.
DEP spokesperson Ed Timbers told Streetsblog that the driver joined the agency in February 2023 and would not drive for DEP while the investigation continued.