A Manhattan man on Monday was sentenced to prison after he struck and killed an off-duty police officer on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and left the scene.
Carlos Almanzar Toribio, 31, was sentenced to an indeterminate term of one-and-one-third to four years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of leaving the scene of an incident in which serious injury or death results on April 21, 2026, according to Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez.
On August 27, 2025, at approximately 8:45am, on the BQE near Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, Jay Peña, an off-duty NYPD officer, was driving his personal motorcycle westbound on the highway when he and his motorcycle were struck by and forced under a box truck driven by Toribio. The victim was ejected onto the roadway, while the defendant continued to operate the truck, dragging the victim’s motorcycle for nearly 600 feet before the defendant stopped his vehicle.
Toribio then attempted to remove the victim’s motorcycle from underneath the truck by hand before re-entering the truck, driving over the motorcycle and continuing westbound, according to prosecutors.
NYPD detectives from the Collision Investigation Squad responded to the scene and, using continuous video surveillance footage, traced the defendant’s truck to the Gravesend area of Brooklyn, where they apprehended him.
Upon further examination, detectives found Toribio had removed a temporary license plate that had been affixed to the truck and replaced it with another temporary plate, the DA said.
Detectives also found the original temporary plate on scene, torn into multiple pieces. A search pursuant to a warrant also recovered a footpeg from the victim’s motorcycle in the cab of the truck. Video surveillance footage depicted the defendant removing the footpeg from the truck’s rear tires, according to Gonzalez.
Peña was taken to NYU Langone Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, prosecutors said.
“The defendant’s actions demonstrate a callous disregard for those around him," Gonzalez said in a statement. "Despite knowing he caused a serious traffic incident, the defendant left the scene. While nothing can replace Officer Peña or fully heal the grief and loss of his family and friends, I hope this prison sentence provides some sense of closure."
