Driver charged after fatal FDR Drive hit-and-run
Police said Jose Turpo was accused of leaving after he hit 59-year-old Jose Mojica on the FDR Drive, where the official record recorded one pedestrian death at about 3:30 a.m. on Aug. 10, 2024.
What We Know
A 59-year-old pedestrian was fatally injured on the FDR Drive at about 3:30 a.m. on Aug. 10, 2024, according to the official crash record. Police later identified him as Jose Mojica and said Jose Turpo, 38, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, was accused of hitting him with a silver Nissan Sentra in the southbound lanes between the Houston Street and Grand Street/Williamsburg Bridge exits, then leaving the scene. Medics took Mojica to Bellevue Hospital with severe head and body injuries, and police said he died on Sept. 5. Turpo was arrested in November and charged with leaving the scene of an incident without reporting it and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. The official record lists driver inattention or distraction for the sedan driver; the article reports that a complaint said Turpo told detectives he did not stop because he was scared.
A late-night crossing on the FDR Drive ended in a fatal injury
The official crash record places the crash on the FDR Drive at about 3:30 a.m. on Aug. 10, 2024, and records one pedestrian killed. The Daily News, citing police, identified the pedestrian as 59-year-old Jose Mojica and reported that he was trying to cross the highway when Jose Turpo hit him in a silver Nissan Sentra.
Medics took Mojica to Bellevue Hospital with severe head and body injuries. Police told the Daily News that Mojica lived in the nearby Baruch Houses and died on Sept. 5, nearly a month after the crash.
The crash happened in the FDR Drive’s southbound lanes
The official record lists the location as FDR Drive on Manhattan’s East Side. The Daily News, citing police, reported that the crash happened in the southbound lanes between the Houston Street and Grand Street/Williamsburg Bridge exits.
The official vehicle record and the police account both point to a Nissan sedan
The official record describes the driver as traveling south in a 2018 Nissan sedan and going straight ahead before the crash. The Daily News reported, citing police, that the driver was in a silver Nissan Sentra.
Records differ on licensing, while police described a flight from the scene
The official crash record lists driver inattention or distraction as a contributing factor for the sedan driver. It also lists the driver as licensed in Pennsylvania. The Daily News, citing police, reported that Turpo’s license had been suspended because of failure to pay child support and that investigators charged him with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.
According to the Daily News, a complaint said Turpo told detectives he did not stop because he was “scared.” Police said video surveillance helped investigators trace the Pennsylvania license plate and link Turpo to the vehicle.
An arrest followed nearly three months later
The Daily News reported that Turpo was taken into custody on Nov. 8 and charged with leaving the scene of an incident without reporting it and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. He was released on supervision after a brief arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court, and police said the charges were not bail-eligible.