Driver charged after fatal Bruckner Expressway hit-and-run
Police identified Sadiel Ramirez Payano as the driver in a hit-and-run that killed 51-year-old Armando Rodriguez on the Bruckner Expressway; the crash record lists one pedestrian death at 5:15 a.m. on July 21, 2024.
Approximate reported location.
What We Know
Police and prosecutors said Sadiel Ramirez Payano struck Armando Rodriguez as he inspected his car on the Bruckner Expressway shoulder and fled. News 12 separately reported that the driver veered from the right lane onto the shoulder and struck Rodriguez and his car; police sources later said dash-camera footage helped investigators trace the driver's vehicle.
The reports describe the driver's movement differently.
The crash record lists one pedestrian killed and gives the collision time as 5:15 a.m. on July 21, 2024. AmNewYork reported that police found Rodriguez at about 5:20 a.m.; one News 12 report described the fatal crash as occurring Sunday night.
Police and prosecutors told Yahoo that Rodriguez was inspecting the passenger side of his car when Ramirez Payano sped past and struck him. News 12, citing police, described the driver veering from the right lane onto the shoulder and striking Rodriguez and his car.
The shoulder near Exit 8 was central to the reported sequence.
The official record locates the crash on the Bruckner Expressway. Police accounts placed Rodriguez on the northbound shoulder near Exit 8; News 12 reported the driver veered onto that shoulder, while Yahoo said Rodriguez was checking his car there.
Rodriguez lived in Middletown.
Armando Rodriguez
News 12 reported that Rodriguez, 51, lived in Middletown, Orange County. The official record identifies the person killed as a 51-year-old male pedestrian.
Sadiel Ramirez Payano
News 12 identified Ramirez Payano, 21, as an arrested Bronx resident in the hit-and-run investigation.
Reports differ on which car was called a Camry.
The official record lists two Toyota sedans: a northbound 2020 sedan and a parked 2022 sedan. Yahoo identified Ramirez Payano's car as a 2020 Toyota Camry, while News 12 described the car pulled over near the exit as a Toyota Camry. The official record does not give the sedans' models, so the reports do not establish which car was a Camry.
Dash-camera footage helped investigators trace the car.
Police sources told Yahoo that investigators used footage from Rodriguez's dash camera to track the driver's 2020 Toyota Camry. Police found the car on Waring Avenue near Lodovick Avenue in Pelham Gardens, with a broken driver-side mirror, a cracked windshield and a missing front bumper piece recovered at the crash scene.
News 12 reported that Ramirez Payano was arrested and faced charges including leaving the scene. Yahoo reported charges of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. Yahoo also reported that he was released after arraignment on $20,000 cash bail or a $75,000 bond.