A driver from Manhattan was arrested on Tuesday months after he allegedly struck and killed a woman crossing a street on the Upper East Side last year.
Police arrested 60-year-old Darrell Lopez of First Avenue in Yorkville on Jan. 14 at 8:13 a.m. He was charged with failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to use due care when his vehicle struck 78-year-old Virginia Renta as she attempted to cross East 93rd Street at around 2:20 p.m. on June 13.
Lopez was driving a gray 2023 Nissan Pathfinder, heading westbound on the uptown street when he attempted to turn left onto southbound 2nd Avenue. During the turn, police sources said, he struck Renta.
According to law enforcement sources, Lopez remained at the scene as officers from the 19th Precinct arrived. Meanwhile, EMS responded and rushed Renta to NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center where she was pronounced dead.
The NYPD Highway District Collision Investigation Squad investigated the incident for more than six months before arresting Lopez at the 19th Precinct stationhouse Tuesday. It is unclear if the suspect turned himself in or was picked up by police.
Citywide, there were 120 pedestrian fatalities between January and December 2024, according to crashmapper.org. The tracker also reported that 25 cyclists and 114 motorists were killed during the same period, for a total of 164 traffic fatalities.
