Driver Hits Parked DSNY Backhoe, Killing Passenger in Bronx
A 24-year-old Toyota Highlander driver hit a parked DSNY backhoe near East 233rd Street and Provost Avenue at 10:29 p.m. on March 13, 2026, killing front-seat passenger Mohamed Salim, 44, and injuring two other motorists.
What We Know
A 24-year-old man driving a 2017 Toyota Highlander west on East 233rd Street hit an unoccupied parked DSNY backhoe loader near Provost Avenue on March 13, 2026. Mohamed Salim, 44, who was riding in the front passenger seat, died at Jacobi; the driver and another 44-year-old passenger were hospitalized in stable condition. The official crash record lists unsafe speed as a contributing factor, and police told news outlets the driver failed to navigate the roadway or lost control. Salim's family told the Daily News the crash happened steps from House of Benz, the autobody shop he owned, and said city equipment had been left outside for about two weeks. Police said the driver remained at the scene, no arrests had been made, and the Collision Investigation Squad was investigating.
A westbound driver hit parked city equipment
Police said a 24-year-old man was driving a 2017 Toyota Highlander west on East 233rd Street near Provost Avenue at about 10:29 p.m. when he failed to navigate the roadway and hit an unoccupied parked DSNY backhoe loader. The official record identifies one person killed and two motorists injured in the crash.
Mohamed Salim, 44, was riding in the front passenger seat. EMS took him to NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi, where he was pronounced dead. The driver and a 44-year-old rear passenger were also taken to Jacobi in stable condition.
Mohamed Salim died steps from his shop, his family said
The Daily News identified Salim as the owner of House of Benz, a Mercedes auto workshop near the crash site, and reported that he had worked as a mechanical engineer for Mercedes for more than a decade before opening the business.
His mother, Bibi Salim, told the Daily News that his death during Ramadan was especially painful. His father, Jidat Kondayya, told the paper that firefighters had to cut doors off the Toyota to remove the occupants.
Reports described the parked DSNY equipment in different terms
Norwood News, the Daily News and AccidentNews described the parked DSNY equipment as a backhoe loader or front-end loader. News 12 called it a DSNY truck. All of those accounts said it was unoccupied and parked when the driver hit it.
The official vehicle record identifies the moving vehicle as a 2017 Toyota SUV with three occupants, traveling west and going straight ahead before the crash.
Speed and control were central to the investigation record
The official crash record lists unsafe speed as a contributing factor. Police told news outlets the 24-year-old driver failed to navigate the roadway, and the Daily News reported police said the driver had lost control.
Salim's father also questioned why the city equipment had remained on the street, telling the Daily News it had been there for more than two weeks and alleging it was double-parked near his son's shop.
The crash happened on East 233rd Street in the northeast Bronx
The official crash record places the collision at East 233rd Street and Provost Avenue. Norwood News reported the response location as 1682 East 233rd Street, and the Daily News said the crash unfolded in front of House of Benz, Salim's autobody shop.
Press accounts described the neighborhood differently: Norwood News and News 12 referred to Eastchester, while the Daily News described the area as Baychester. The location mattered to Salim's family because the parked city equipment was near his workplace, and Kondayya said a city sanitation lot was one block away.
Police said the driver stayed and no arrest had been made
NYPD said the Toyota driver remained at the scene. Norwood News reported that there were no arrests and that the NYPD Highway District's Collision Investigation Squad continued to investigate.