Driver charged after hit-and-run kills two men in Sunset Park
His Own Work
Police say Juventino Anastacio Florentino drove through a red light and hit Kex Un Chen and Faqiu Lin at Third Avenue and 52nd Street at 4:22 a.m. on July 11, 2025; both men died.
Location reported in Open Data.
What We Know
Police say Juventino Anastacio Florentino drove south through a red light at Third Avenue and 52nd Street in Sunset Park, hitting Kex Un Chen, 80, and Faqiu Lin, 59. Both died at the scene of the July 11, 2025, crash. Florentino left the intersection, police said, and was arrested later that day. He faces charges including manslaughter and leaving the scene. Accounts of the crossing signal differ: CBS reported that video showed the men had the right of way, while Streetsblog reported that the signal changed in their favor midway across. The city crash record describes both men as crossing with the signal.
The driver left the intersection.
At 4:22 a.m. on July 11, 2025, a driver heading south on Third Avenue hit two men crossing at 52nd Street. Emergency workers pronounced both men dead at the scene.
Police identified the driver as 23-year-old Juventino Anastacio Florentino. ABC7 reported that surveillance video showed a BMW sedan speeding south before the collision and that the driver continued on without stopping.
The crossing sits beneath the Gowanus Expressway.
The men were crossing Third Avenue at 52nd Street in Sunset Park, beneath the elevated Gowanus Expressway. Pedestrians crossing Third Avenue in this corridor contend with nine lanes of traffic. A street redesign endorsed by the local community board had stalled before the crash.
Chen's son remembered his father's generosity.
The men who died were Kex Un Chen, 80, and Faqiu Lin, 59. Chen's son, Qin Xiao Chen, told the Daily News that his father had farmed vegetables in China before moving to New York in 2016 to be with family. Chen had three children and three grandchildren. Describing his father, his son said, "He was selfless."
Reports differ on the pedestrian signal.
Police said the driver went through a red light, and the city crash record lists disregarding a traffic control and unsafe speed as factors associated with the sedan. CBS reported that surveillance video showed the pedestrian signal giving the men the right of way. Streetsblog reported that the men began crossing against the signal but that it changed to green as they reached the middle of the street. The city record describes both men as crossing with the signal.
Police made an arrest, and residents called for street changes.
Police arrested Florentino at his Staten Island home later on July 11 after investigators used surveillance video and pieces of the BMW left at the scene to trace him. He was charged with offenses including manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and leaving the scene of a fatal crash. At his arraignment the next day, a judge set bail at $100,000.
Later in July, Sunset Park residents, elected officials and safety advocates renewed calls for improvements to Third Avenue. A City Hall spokesperson told Gothamist that transportation officials were gathering community feedback on what to do next.