An 18-year-old male youth from Williamsbridge has died following a fatal hit & run collision in the Morris Heights section of The Bronx.

 

Police said that on Monday, Dec. 4, at around 9.18 a.m., officers from the 44th Precinct responded to a 911 call regarding a motor vehicle collision on the Cross Bronx Expressway near Jerome Avenue.

 

“Upon arrival, officers observed an 18-year-old male, unconscious and unresponsive, with severe body trauma on the roadway,” a police spokesperson said. “Further investigation by the NYPD’s Collision Investigation Squad determined that the 18-year-old male was operating a Jiangsu motorcycle, [traveling] eastbound on the Cross Bronx Expressway in between the right and center lanes when he collided with the rear left corner of a Honda mini-van that was traveling in the right lane.”

 

The spokesperson said the motorcycle then collided with the right side of a tractor trailer traveling in the center lane before falling to the pavement and under the trailer. “The motorcyclist was then struck by the rear tires of the tractor trailer before being struck by a Dodge Charger,” the spokesperson said.

 

Police said the motorcyclist was dragged by the Dodge to Webster Avenue and East 175th Street, and that neither the driver of the tractor trailer nor the driver of the Dodge remained at the scene.

 

They said EMS responded and pronounced the aided male deceased at the site of the accident. They said there are no arrests and the investigation remains ongoing.

The deceased has been identified as Joseph Anthony Ruiz of East 214th Street in Williamsbridge.

 

Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, or on Twitter @NYPDTips.

 

All calls are strictly confidential.