Driver Killed in Broad Channel Cross Bay Boulevard Crash
A 27-year-old driver was killed at Cross Bay Boulevard and East 1st Road on Dec. 10, 2023, after police said Melvin Garcia drove a red Toyota Corolla north at high speed and crashed into a wooden light pole.
What We Know
Melvin Garcia, a 27-year-old Far Rockaway man, was killed on Dec. 10, 2023, at Cross Bay Boulevard and East 1st Road in Queens. The official record lists the crash at 9:22 p.m., with one motorist killed and no other injuries recorded. QNS reported that police said Garcia was driving a red Toyota Corolla north on Cross Bay Boulevard at a high rate of speed when he failed to properly navigate the roadway and crashed into a wooden light pole. Police said Garcia was ejected, and EMS pronounced him dead at the scene. The official record lists unsafe speed as a contributing factor, and the Toyota record also lists alcohol involvement.
Police said the northbound driver crashed near East 1st Road
The official record places the crash at Cross Bay Boulevard and East 1st Road in Queens at 9:22 p.m. on Dec. 10, 2023. It records one motorist killed and no other injuries.
QNS reported that police from the 100th Precinct responded to a 911 call around 9:20 p.m. and found Melvin Garcia unconscious and unresponsive on the roadway with severe trauma. EMS pronounced him dead at the scene.
According to the article, an NYPD preliminary investigation found that Garcia was driving north on Cross Bay Boulevard at a high rate of speed when he failed to properly navigate the roadway and crashed into a wooden light pole near the Callahead depot.
The driver was identified as a Far Rockaway man
Police later identified the driver as Melvin Garcia, 27, of Beach 44th Street in the Bayswater section of Far Rockaway, QNS reported. The official record lists him as the driver and sole occupant of the sedan.
Police described the car as a red Toyota Corolla
The official record lists a sedan, identified in the vehicle record as a 1993 Toyota. QNS reported that police described Garcia as driving a red Toyota Corolla.
Speed was recorded as a factor
The official crash record lists unsafe speed as a contributing factor. The Toyota record also lists alcohol involvement, and QNS reported that police said Garcia was traveling at a high rate of speed.
Cross Bay Boulevard has seen hundreds of crashes since 2022
The crash happened at Cross Bay Boulevard and East 1st Road in Queens. Along Cross Bay Boulevard in Queens, CrashCountNYC counted 804 crashes, 570 injuries, 34 serious injuries and 3 deaths from Jan. 1, 2022, through June 1, 2026.
NYPD investigators continued the case
QNS reported that the NYPD Highway District's Collision Investigation Squad was continuing the investigation after the crash.