The pickup truck driver who killed an 8-year-old boy and
injured his 10-year-old brother at a Corona intersection last
week was charged with criminally negligent homicide at his
arraignment at Queens Criminal Court on March 14. Jose Barcia,
52, was also charged with failure to yield, failure to exercise due
care and driving at an unsafe speed, prosecutors said.
Barcia’s defense attorney argued during the brief hearing that his
client was “extremely regretful, remorseful” as he was taken into
custody by police at the scene.
A Queens Criminal Court judge granted Barcia supervised release,
despite the prosecutor’s request that he be held on $50,000 bail.
Prosecutors said, according to the charges, that Barcia was
waiting at a red light to make a left turn into 100th Street at 31st
Avenue in Corona at about 4:15 p.m. on March 13, when a traffic
light turned green. Barcia sped his Nissan pickup truck over the
double yellow line on 31st Avenue, swerved the truck around a car
in front of him, then fatally struck Bayron Palomino-Arroyo, 8, and
injured the boy’s 10-year-old brother, Bradley.
Cops said the boys were attempting to cross 100th Street with their
mother when the pickup truck barreled into the intersection.
FDNY medics pronounced Bayron dead at the scene, police said.
Bradley was taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital of Queens
where he was treated for a wrist injury and released.
Police sources told the Queens Gazette that Barcia was charged in
2009 and again in 2010 with two counts each of aggravated unlicensed
operation of a motor vehicle.
While granting Barcia’s release, the judge noted that he remained at the
scene and called 911 himself. “Otherwise, this could have been a very
different situation,” the judge said.
NYPD Chief of Transportation Philip Rivera said at a press conference
on March 13 that Barcia, who lives in Flushing, “made a poor decision”
by speeding around the vehicle in front of him. “Because of this poor
decision, a family trying to enjoy a beautiful day will never be the same.”
Rivera said that although the intersection has not been the scene of a crash
for at least the past two years, “Any intersection can be dangerous when
drivers are not paying attention and making turns too quickly.”
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