A Brooklyn man was killed early Wednesday morning when his car was rammed by another vehicle on Northern Boulevard in East Elmhurst. Photo courtesy of Citizen App
Feb. 27, 2025 By Bill Parry
A Brooklyn man was killed in a fatal crash on Northern Boulevard in East Elmhurst early Wednesday morning, and an off-duty FDNY firefighter was arrested for causing the collision.
Police from the 115th Precinct in Jackson Heights responded to a 911 call of a motor vehicle collision at the intersection of 107th Street and Northern Boulevard at 4:15 a.m. and found the driver trapped in the wreckage of a 2022 BMW 240 after it was t-boned by a 28-year-old man driving a 2015 Mercedes Benz S63. First responders extricated the driver of the BMW, and EMS rushed him to Elmhurst Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short while later.
He was later identified as Justin Diaz, 23, of Suydam Street in Bushwick.
A preliminary investigation by the NYPD’s Highway District Collision Investigation Squad determined that Diaz was traveling northbound on 107th Street when he was rammed by the driver of the Mercedes, who was traveling at a high rate of speed eastbound on Northern Boulevard when he blew a red light and smashed into the BMW.
Two 28-year-old men who were riding in the Mercedes were transported by EMS to Elmhurst Hospital, where they were listed in stable condition.
According to an NYPD spokesman, the 28-year-old Mercedes driver was taken into custody, and he was later identified as off-duty FDNY firefighter Michael Pena. He was later charged with second-degree vehicular manslaughter, driving while intoxicated, and refusal to take a breathalyzer test.
The FDNY suspended Pena for 28 days without pay while the investigation takes place.
The investigation by the NYPD’s Highway District Collision Investigation Squad remains ongoing.
Featured Events
