Truck Driver Sentenced In BQE Hit-And-Run That Killed Off-Duty NYPD Officer

Yisroel R.

A truck driver has been sentenced to up to four years in prison after fatally striking an off-duty NYPD officer riding a motorcycle on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and fleeing the scene.

Carlos Almanzar Toribio, 31, of Manhattan, was sentenced to one and one-third to four years in prison after pleading guilty to leaving the scene of an incident resulting in serious injury or death.

The crash occurred on August 27, 2025, at approximately 8:45 a.m. near Atlantic Avenue. Officer Jay Pena was riding his personal motorcycle westbound on the BQE when he and the motorcycle were struck and forced underneath the box truck driven by Toribio. 

Pena was thrown onto the roadway while the truck continued traveling, dragging his motorcycle for nearly 600 feet. Prosecutors said Toribio eventually stopped and attempted to remove the motorcycle from underneath the truck by hand. 

Toribio then returned to the truck, drove over the motorcycle, and continued westbound on the BQE. Emergency personnel transported Pena to NYU Langone Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Pena was a four-year NYPD veteran assigned to the 84th Precinct. 

The NYPD Collision Investigation Squad used surveillance footage to trace the box truck to the Gravesend section of Brooklyn, where Toribio was taken into custody. Investigators said he had also tried covering up his tracks by replacing the truck’s license plate. Toribio later pleaded guilty and has now been sentenced for the fatal hit-and-run.