Police have arrested the field truck driver accused of fleeing the scene after a fiery hit-and-run crash on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway that took the lifetime of an off-duty NYPD officer, officers mentioned Thursday.
Carlos Almanzar Toribio, 30, was apprehended on Wednesday and accused of leaving the scene of an accident leading to dying for his function within the 8:50 a.m. crash on the BQE close to the Atlantic Ave. exit in Cobble Hill, working an unregistered car and driving with no license plate, officers mentioned.
At his arraignment late Thursday in Kings County Legal Courtroom, Choose Dale Fong-Frederick ordered Almanzar Toricio held on $150,000 money bail or $300,000 bond, and to return to court docket Sept. 2.
Almanzar Toribio was behind the wheel of a 2020 Freightliner field truck heading within the path of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge when he collided with the 30-year-old off-duty officer driving a Yamaha bike, officers mentioned.
An off-duty cop was killed when his bike crashed on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway Wednesday. (Gardiner Anderson / New York Every day Information)
The officer, a four-year veteran of the pressure, was working within the 84th Precinct in downtown Brooklyn.
The cop was thrown from his bike, which stored on happening the freeway, slamming right into a wall and exploding into flames, video posted on social media reveals.
At Almanzar Toribio’s arraignment, Assistant District Lawyer Tziyonah Langsam declared there “is video surveillance showing the victim’s body rolling out from under the truck after impact.”
“The defendant stopped several yards away to dislodge the motorcycle from under the truck,” Langsam mentioned. “There are eye witnesses who observed defendant observe the victim’s body on the ground. Defendant removed the motorcycle from under the truck. The motorcycle caught fire, and defendant drove off from the location.”
Langsam additionally said “the police… will be seeking a search warrant to recover whatever defendant has inside the vehicle.”
An off-duty cop was killed when his bike crashed on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway Wednesday. (Gardiner Anderson / New York Every day Information)
After the crash, cops carried out a canvass of the world, selecting up surveillance footage of the truck because it continued on after the horrific collision. By the video canvass, cops have been in a position to find the truck, and later Almanzar Toribio, officers mentioned.
Medics rushed the officer to NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn however he couldn’t be saved. The officer’s title was not instantly launched.
Cops shut down the westbound lanes of the expressway for a number of hours Wednesday as they investigated the crash.
Eight of Almanzar Toribio’s prolonged relations have been within the courtroom for the emotional arraignment, together with his 4 month-old son. One member of the family sobbed, crying “it’s not true, it’s not true, it’s not true. He’s a loving father.”
Initially Revealed: August 28, 2025 at 11:33 AM EDT
