You are reading

Drunk Driver Sentenced to Up to 12 Years in Prison for Death of Dirt Bike Rider on Long Island Expressway

iStock

Oct. 3, 2022 By Czarinna Andres

A Connecticut man who drove drunk and killed a dirt bike rider on the Long Island Expressway last year has been sentenced to up to 12 years in prison.

Jorge Serrano, 30, was sentenced today to between 4 1/2 to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty last month to aggravated vehicular homicide and vehicular assault. He confessed to fatally striking a 19-year-old dirt bike rider while driving drunk westbound on the Long Island Expressway during the early hours of Sept. 11, 2021.

“In pleading guilty, the defendant admitted to causing the tragic death of a fellow motorist on a Queens highway,” said Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz in a statement. “Rules of the road are not mere suggestions, but laws that exist to help keep everyone on the road safe. The defendant has now been held to account for not abiding by these laws and sentenced by the Court for his actions.”

According to the charges, Serrano struck the dirt bike rider—as well as a moped rider—that were both headed westbound. After striking the dirt bike, Serrano’s vehicle dragged the bike and its 19-year-old rider approximately 100 yards on the highway.

Responding police officers found the dirt bike rider, Edwin Puma, unresponsive at the scene and bleeding from his mouth. He was immediately transported to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced deceased.

Additionally, police officers discovered the moped rider, a 23-year-old man, at the scene. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment of a broken left leg.

Serrano, who didn’t have a valid license, fled the scene before being picked up by police in Maspeth—about two miles from the crash site.

Cops nabbed Serrano, a Torrington, Conn. resident, after finding his vehicle parked in the middle of the crosswalk at Maspeth Avenue and 61st Street.

He was arrested after police determined that he was intoxicated. He had bloodshot, watery eyes, slurred speech and a strong odor of alcohol on his breath.

A breathalyzer was administered about two hours after the collision, and showed Serrano’s blood ethanol level to be 0.16, which is two times the legal limit.

email the author: [email protected]
No comments yet

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Maspeth woman charged with DUI after slamming SUV into school crossing guard: NYPD

A Maspeth woman was arrested and charged with driving under the influence and other crimes after she slammed her SUV into a school crossing guard on Tuesday afternoon.

Police from the 104th Precinct responded to a 911 call of a motor vehicle collision involving a pedestrian at the intersection of Eliot Avenue and 71st Street at around 3 p.m. on Sept. 26. Upon their arrival, officers found the 63-year-old woman lying on the roadway with trauma to her head. EMS responded to the scene and rushed the crossing guard to Elmhurst Hospital in critical but stable condition, according to the NYPD.

MTA providing shuttle from 7 train to traveling Vietnam War Memorial replica in Flushing Meadows Corona Park

Sep. 26, 2023 By Bill Parry

The MTA is working with the NYC Department of Veterans’ Affairs to provide shuttle bus service between the Mets-Willets Point 7 train station and Flushing Meadows Corona Park for all those wishing to visit the “The Wall that Heals,” a three-quarter scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., that honors the more than three million Americans who served in the Armed Forces during the Vietnam conflict.