Hit-run driver kills pedestrian, injures another in Corona
A hit-and-run driver in a white SUV hit two men crossing 102nd Street just after 4 a.m. on New Year’s Day, killing one and critically injuring the other.
What We Know
Police accounts cited by news outlets said a driver in a speeding white SUV was southbound on 102nd Street shortly after 4 a.m. when the driver hit two men crossing in Corona and left the scene. The city crash record lists the crash at 4:07 a.m. at 102nd Street and 32nd Avenue, with one pedestrian killed and one injured; news reports consistently placed it at or near 37th Avenue. Later ABC7 reporting identified the man killed as Darwin Adrian Malan Cargua and the injured man as Luis Romero, and said families and friends were keeping a memorial and seeking an arrest. The city record lists the killed pedestrian as a 27-year-old man, while later reporting described Cargua as 25.
A driver left two men in the street after New Year's celebrations
News reports citing police said a driver in a white SUV was traveling south on 102nd Street shortly after 4 a.m. on New Year's Day when the driver hit two men who were crossing in Corona. One man died at the scene, and medics took the other to Elmhurst Hospital in critical condition.
The city crash record lists the crash at 4:07 a.m. and records one pedestrian killed and one pedestrian injured. It describes the killed pedestrian as crossing in a marked crosswalk with no signal. Press accounts said the driver did not stop.
The official location and the reported location do not match
The city crash record places the fatal collision at 102nd Street and 32nd Avenue in Queens. News reports citing police consistently placed the crash farther south, at or near 102nd Street and 37th Avenue in Corona.
CrashCountNYC's location context for the 32nd Avenue corridor in Queens counted 598 crashes, 353 injuries, 35 serious injuries and 4 deaths from the start of 2022 through June 1, 2026.
Later reporting named the men and described a family loss
ABC7 reported that investigators identified the man killed as Darwin Adrian Malan Cargua. The city record lists the killed pedestrian as a 27-year-old man, while ABC7 and QNS described him as 25.
ABC7 identified the injured man as Luis Romero and reported that he remained hospitalized on his 25th birthday. The station said the two men were friends and Ecuadorian immigrants, and quoted Cargua's uncle saying his nephew worked in construction and came to New York to provide for his family.
Police sought a driver in a white SUV
Multiple news outlets reported that police were looking for the driver of a white SUV. QNS, citing the NYPD Highway District's Collision Investigation Squad, reported that the driver was speeding southbound on 102nd Street and that the impact threw one victim into a parked, unoccupied 2021 Honda Pilot and left him pinned beneath it.
The city record lists a southbound driver going straight ahead with center-front damage and a parked 2021 Honda SUV with left-rear and rear damage. The record does not, by itself, identify the driver.
Families asked for an arrest as investigators searched for evidence
The Daily News reported that NYPD collision investigators were looking for surveillance footage after the driver left the scene. QNS reported that there had been no arrests as of midday Jan. 2 and that police asked the public to contact Crime Stoppers with information.
ABC7 reported that a makeshift memorial grew at the crash site, with candles, flowers and a donation can, while relatives sought a way to send Cargua's body back to Ecuador.