A Bronx man was indicted for striking a cyclist while leading police on a high-speed chase through the streets of Astoria earlier this month. File photo by Lloyd Mitchell
July 23, 2024 By Bill Parry
A Queens grand jury indicted a Bronx man for striking an e-bike rider and speeding away while evading police during a car chase through the streets of Astoria earlier this month.
Harold Vega, 46, of Jackson Avenue in the Mott Haven section, was arraigned Tuesday in Queens Supreme Court on a 13-count indictment charging him with assault, reckless endangerment, leaving the scene of an accident and other related crimes while fleeing police on July 3. During the chase, Vega allegedly struck the bicyclist, which launched the victim into the air and caused him to sustain severe head trauma when he struck the pavement. The victim remains hospitalized, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
“This was a high-speed chase in the very busy neighborhood of Astoria, which endangered the lives of every single person on the street,” Katz said. “In order to evade police, Harold Vega blew through 26 red lights and 14 stop signs, drove against traffic and on the sidewalk and through crowded streets at unsafe speeds on a hot summer afternoon.”
According to the charges, at around 4:33 p.m. on July 3, a police officer from the 114th Precinct in Astoria saw a gray 2003 Nissan Altima with a tinted cover obstructing its license plate near the Ravenswood Houses at the intersection of 36th Avenue and 21st Street. While doing a computer check, the officer learned that the license plate attached to the vehicle belonged to a different car.
The officer attempted to conduct a traffic stop by activating lights and sirens on his unmarked police vehicle at which point Vega stopped for approximately four seconds before he entered the intersection against a steady red light, made a U-turn and sped away. During the car chase that followed, the officer observed Vega speed through 25 additional steady red lights, 14 stop signs, drive against the flow of traffic, disregard double yellow lines, weave in and out of traffic, nearly strike multiple pedestrians and drive onto the sidewalk to evade capture.
When Vega drove through a steady red light at 31st Avenue and Crescent Street, he struck the victim, Arturo Aguirre Matias, who was riding an electric bicycle with pedals on Crescent Street. The victim was riding inside the marked bike lane with the flow of traffic and a green traffic signal in his favor. Vega did not stop and proceeded to drive recklessly until he collided with a parked car so forcefully that the airbags deployed.
The defendant struck the cyclist at the intersection of Crescent Street and 36th Avenue. The cyclist remains in critical condition at Elmhurst Hospital. Photo via Google Maps
The entire vehicle chase spanned approximately 11 minutes through residential and commercial areas, including the blocks around Astoria Park. After Vega collided with the parked car, he then fled on foot and was confronted by good Samaritans, who slowed him down enough that police could catch up to him near 24th Drive and 23rd Street. Vega resisted arrest when police tried to handcuff him and they eventually took him into custody.
EMS transported Matias to Elmhurst Hospital where he remains in critical condition.
At the 114th Precinct, police recovered one glassine envelope containing a quantity of cocaine from Vega’s pants pocket. At the time of the car chase, Vega was driving with a suspended license. The car he was driving was unregistered and uninsured. Vega had been convicted of the crime of unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the preceding 18 months.
“During the pursuit the defendant struck an innocent bicyclist who had the right of way, leaving a father and husband in critical condition with severe head trauma,” Katz said. “The defendant’s alleged disregard for the rules of the road is shocking.”
Vega was also charged with unlawfully fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle, criminal possession of a controlled substance and other crimes. Queens Supreme Court Justice Michael Hartofilis continued to remand Vega into custody without bail and set a return date of Sep. 14. If convicted of the top count, Vega faces a potential maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
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