Driver cuffed after fatally hitting 8-year-old boy in East Elmhurst

NYPD Chief of Transportation Philip Rivera briefs the media on the crash that left 8-year-old Bayron Palomino Arroyo dead in East Elmhurst on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. Screenshot via NYPD/X

By Jacob Kaye

A 52-year-old man from Flushing is facing nearly half a decade in prison after cops say he fatally ran over an 8-year-old boy and injured the boy’s 10-year-old brother in East Elmhurst on Wednesday afternoon.

Police say that Jose Barcia was driving dangerously and attempting to speed through a left turn when he struck 8-year-old Bayron Palomino Arroyo and his brother, narrowly missing their mother on 31st Avenue shortly after 4 p.m. on Wednesday.

“Because of this poor decision, a family trying to enjoy a beautiful day will never be the same,” NYPD Chief of Transportation Philip Rivera said.

According to the charges, Barcia was driving a 2005 Nissan Titan westbound on 31st Avenue when he came up to a red light at 100th Street.

Stopped at the intersection, Barcia allegedly waited at the red light until the light turned green.

At that moment, he allegedly jumped out into the intersection to make a left turn, cutting off eastbound drivers – who had the right of way – attempting to pass through the intersection.

Police say that the two brothers and their mother were walking across 100th Street with the light when Barcia drove at a dangerous speed into the crosswalk.

Barcia then struck the two brothers.

The 8-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics who were called the scene just after the crash. The 10-year-old was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian Queens with an injury to his wrist.

The mother was not struck or physically injured.

“This incident, as tragic as it is, was avoidable,” Rivera said.

Barcia, who had a valid driver's license, remained at the scene and was the first person to call 911 after the crash, according to the police.

Police took Barcia, who passed a field sobriety test and isn’t believed to have been intoxicated at the time of the crash, into custody and later arrested him.

On Thursday, the Queens district attorney’s office charged Barcia with criminally negligent homicide, failing to yield to oncoming traffic while making a left turn, disobeying speed restrictions, two counts of failing to provide the right of way to pedestrians and two counts of failing to exercise due care.

“Driving carries with it a huge responsibility,” said Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz. “This tragedy is as senseless as it is horrific. The rules of the road exist to safeguard everyone.”

“A young life has been cut short and a family is in mourning because of the driver’s disregard for those rules,” she added. “My deepest condolences are with the loved ones affected by this heartbreaking incident.”

Though Barcia had a license at the time of the crash, that reportedly hasn’t always been the case.

According to reporting by StreetsBlog, Barcia was found to have been driving with a suspended license and arrested on four different occasions from September 2009 through September 2010.

StreetsBlog also reported that the car Barcia was driving at the time of the crash had been ticketed eight times by speed cameras dating back to June 2023. The truck has more than $350 in unpaid speeding tickets, which would allow the Sheriff’s Department to tow the car, the outlet reported.

Palomino Arroyo is the third child to be killed in Queens while crossing the street since last February.

That month, 7-year-old Dolma Naadhun was hit by 46-year-old Claudia Mendez-Vasquez. Police said that Mendez-Vasquez, who was arrested around three months after the crash, was driving without a license when she rolled through a stop sign at the intersection of 45th Street and Newtown Road in Astoria.

Naadhun was almost instantly killed when Mendez-Vasquez struck her.

In November, 3-year-old Quintus Chen died in Flushing after being struck by 20-year-old Kevin Gomez on College Point Boulevard.

Gomez, who did not have a license, was pulling out of an illegal parking spot when he allegedly struck Chen. The unlicensed driver then sped off, fleeing the scene. He eventually ditched his car not far from the scene of the crash and was arrested the next day.

All three deaths sparked outrage among local residents and elected officials.

On Thursday, State Senator Jessica Ramos said that crowded streets in her district were, in part, to blame for the young boy’s death.

“I fight so hard for improved public transit because there are too many cars on the road, particularly SUVs and pickup trucks that do not allow for full visibility in city streets,” Ramos said. “Having too many cars on our streets causes traffic and road rage, which is a recipe for disaster.”

“Nothing will bring the child back,” she added. “We can only fight for traffic calming initiatives and better driver behavior so we can save lives.”

Ramos urged the legislature to pass a bill of hers that would require that crosswalks be scrambled – meaning, pedestrians from all directions would be allowed to cross the intersection all at once without the movement of drivers – near school buildings during times of student arrival and dismissal.

She additionally called for the passage of Sammy’s Law – which would allow large cities in New York to set the speed limit below 20 miles per hour.

Ramos also said the state “need[s] to have a serious conversation about who is awarded the great responsibility of driving in our neighborhoods.”

“It is clear that drivers should be retested frequently, as too many deaths have been the result of a failure to yield to pedestrians crossing the street,” the lawmaker said.

Palomino Arroyo was not the only Western Queens pedestrian to die in the neighborhood on Wednesday.

A 42-year-old woman died after being struck by a driver behind the wheel of a city Department of Environmental Protection truck around 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday in Elmhurst.

The driver allegedly was making a right turn into the southbound lane of 80th Street from 57th Avenue when he hit the woman, who was later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.

No arrests were made at the scene.

Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly spelled the name of Quintus Chen.