Police charged Jesus Juarez after a fatal Washington Bridge crash.
Police said Jesus Juarez changed lanes, collided with a Toyota and then struck a parked work truck and bridge repair worker Herb Henry Alesna on Washington Bridge at Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan at 10:22 p.m. on Aug. 2, 2024, according to reports and the official crash record.
Approximate reported location.
What We Know
Police said Juarez changed lanes and collided with a Toyota before returning to the right lane, where reports say he struck a parked work truck and Alesna. Reports differ on whether Alesna was standing beside the truck or crossing the bridge. The official record places the crash at 10:22 p.m. on Aug. 2, 2024, at Washington Bridge and Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan. Juarez was later charged with reckless driving, failing to yield to a pedestrian and failing to exercise due care; the New York Post reported that he pleaded not guilty.
A lane change preceded the fatal sequence.
Police reports said Juarez changed lanes and collided with a Toyota Highlander, then returned to the right lane and struck a parked work truck and Alesna. Gothamist and the Daily News described Alesna as standing beside the truck while he worked on the bridge; News 12 instead reported that he was crossing the bridge.
Gothamist reported that both drivers stayed at the scene and neither was injured.
Reports identify three vehicles in the collision.
The New York Post identified Juarez as the driver of a 2018 Dodge Durango and another driver as operating a 2015 Toyota Highlander. The official record classifies the Dodge and Toyota as station wagons or sport utility vehicles and lists a parked 2010 International flatbed. Yahoo described the work vehicle as a utility truck.
The crash happened on a bridge linking Manhattan and the Bronx.
The official record places the crash on Washington Bridge at Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan. Gothamist reports that the bridge crosses the Harlem River between Upper Manhattan and the Bronx; Alesna was working on bridge repairs when he was struck.
Alesna’s family and community remembered him.
Herb Henry Alesna, 41, was a construction worker repairing bridge joints. He lived in Maspeth, Queens, and left behind his wife, Eva Gyerko, and a daughter who was 1 year old when he died. The New York Post reported that friends and family remembered him as a proud member of the Filipino community and a dedicated Catholic.
Gyerko told the Daily News, “He was my person. He was my soulmate.”
Juarez faced charges more than a year later.
Juarez turned himself in to police in December 2025 and was charged with reckless driving, failing to yield to a pedestrian and failing to exercise due care. He pleaded not guilty and was released on supervised release, the New York Post reported; prosecutors had requested $15,000 bail. The Post said his next hearing was scheduled for Jan. 23, 2026.
Juarez’s lawyer, Julie Rendelman, told Gothamist, “It was a tragic accident, and he remained at the scene.”