Driver Charged After Fatal FDR Drive Hit-and-Run
Police said Jose Turpo was arrested months after a fatal FDR Drive collision in which Jose Mojica, a 59-year-old pedestrian, was hit near 3:30 a.m. and died Sept. 5.
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. The official crash record places the collision on the FDR Drive and lists a southbound sedan whose driver was going straight. The Daily News, citing police, reported that Jose Mojica was trying to cross the highway between the Houston Street and Grand Street/Williamsburg Bridge exits when a driver in a silver Nissan Sentra hit him and did not stop. Police later arrested Jose Turpo, 38, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and charged him with leaving the scene without reporting it and aggravated unlicensed operation. The article reported Mojica died Sept. 5 after nearly a month in the hospital. The official record lists the Pennsylvania driver as licensed, while the article says Turpo’s license had been suspended.
Police said the driver did not stop
The Daily News, citing police, reported that Jose Mojica was trying to cross the FDR Drive on foot when a driver in a silver Nissan Sentra hit him at about 3:30 a.m. on Aug. 10, 2024. Medics took Mojica to Bellevue Hospital with severe head and body injuries, and he died on Sept. 5.
The official crash record lists one pedestrian killed and no other reported injuries. It lists the involved vehicle as a sedan traveling south, with front-end impact and damage.
The collision happened on the East Side highway
The official record places the crash on the FDR Drive. The Daily News reported it happened in the southbound lanes between the Houston Street and Grand Street/Williamsburg Bridge exits, and said Mojica lived in the nearby Baruch Houses.
The article described Mojica as trying to cross the highway on foot, a setting where pedestrians have little protection from high-speed traffic.
A Pennsylvania man was arrested in November
Police arrested Jose Turpo, 38, of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on Nov. 8, according to the Daily News. Investigators charged him with leaving the scene of an incident without reporting it and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.
The article reported that surveillance video led police to a Pennsylvania license plate, linking Turpo to the vehicle. It also reported that Turpo told detectives he did not stop because he was scared. He was released on supervision after arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court.
Records disagree on the driver’s license status
The official crash record lists the sedan driver as licensed in Pennsylvania and lists driver inattention or distraction as a contributing factor. The Daily News, citing police, reported that Turpo’s license had been suspended for failure to pay child support and that he was charged with aggravated unlicensed operation.