Driver Indicted After Yong Li Killed in Lower East Side Crosswalk
City records say a driver failed to yield while turning at Stanton and Clinton streets on Dec. 18, killing a 76-year-old woman crossing with the signal, and prosecutors later accused Julio Cachago of driving away after hitting Yong Li.
What We Know
On Dec. 18, 2025, a driver making a right turn at Stanton and Clinton streets hit a 76-year-old woman who was crossing with the signal, according to the city crash record, which listed failure to yield as a contributing factor. Prosecutors later identified the woman as Yong Li and accused Julio Cachago of hitting her in the crosswalk, driving away, and only contacting police after his Ford Edge had been towed. Li was taken to Bellevue Hospital and died there. Cachago was indicted on charges including criminally negligent homicide, leaving the scene of an incident without reporting, and failure to yield. Records and news reports disagree on the Ford Edge’s model year, with the city record and some reports listing 2010 and later indictment coverage listing 2020.
A right turn into a crosswalk
The city crash record places the fatal crash at Stanton Street and Clinton Street at 6:56 p.m. on Dec. 18, 2025. It records one pedestrian killed: a 76-year-old woman who was at the intersection and crossing with the signal when a driver in a Ford SUV was making a right turn.
Police and prosecutors said the driver hit the woman in the marked crosswalk and did not stay at the scene. Medics took her to Bellevue Hospital, where she died.
Yong Li and the accused driver
Yong Li was crossing with the signal
Prosecutors and later reports identified the woman who died as Yong Li, 76. The official person record describes the person killed as a 76-year-old female pedestrian crossing with the signal at the intersection.
Julio Cachago was accused after the hit-and-run
Police and prosecutors identified Julio Cachago of Queens as the driver. Court reporting said prosecutors accused him of allowing one pedestrian to cross, then hitting Li as she entered the crosswalk with the walk signal, driving over her, briefly stopping, and continuing on.
Surveillance, arrest, and indictment
Initial reports said NYPD Collision Investigation Squad members were looking for surveillance footage after the driver left the Lower East Side scene.
The Daily News reported that Cachago was arrested after he tried to report his Ford Edge stolen. Prosecutors said surveillance video showed the driver pulling over about 35 minutes later in the Financial District, getting out to inspect the front of the SUV for damage, and continuing to the Bronx; police later found the damaged SUV there.
The Manhattan district attorney later announced an indictment. Reported charges included criminally negligent homicide, leaving the scene of an incident without reporting, failure to yield, failure to exercise due care, license restriction violation, and unlicensed driving.
Reports disagree on the Ford Edge model year
The city crash record lists a 2010 Ford SUV with two occupants, right-front-bumper impact and damage, and a driver making a right turn. The Daily News and Shore News Network also described a 2010 Ford Edge, while Patch and EV Grieve reported a 2020 Ford Edge in indictment coverage.
Failure to yield was central in the record and charges
The city crash record lists failure to yield right-of-way as a contributing factor, and later vehicle entries also list driver inattention or distraction. Prosecutors charged Cachago with motor vehicle failure to yield to a pedestrian, among other counts.
Stanton and Clinton sit on a crash-heavy Lower East Side corridor
The fatal crash happened at Stanton Street and Clinton Street in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, within the Clinton Street corridor tracked by CrashCountNYC location context.
Since 2022, CrashCountNYC’s location context for Clinton Street in Manhattan counts 295 crashes, 173 injuries, 13 serious injuries, and 1 death.