Teen Motorcycle Rider Killed in Soundview Crash
Seventeen-year-old Juan Alexander Quizhpi Naranjo was driving a motorcycle with a 14-year-old passenger when he died in a Feb. 24 crash with a 42-year-old Honda driver at Metcalf Avenue and East 172nd Street.
What We Know
Juan Alexander Quizhpi Naranjo, 17, was driving a motorcycle at Metcalf Avenue and East 172nd Street in the Bronx on Feb. 24, 2025, when the crash was recorded at 6:44 p.m. Police told Gothamist he was traveling north on Metcalf Avenue with a 14-year-old girl riding behind him while a 42-year-old man drove a Honda Odyssey east on East 172nd Street. Both teens were taken to Jacobi Hospital, where Quizhpi Naranjo died; police said the girl was stable. The Honda driver stayed at the scene and was not charged as investigators examined right of way and whether a traffic violation played a role.
Police described a northbound teen rider and an eastbound driver.
The city crash record places the collision at Metcalf Avenue and East 172nd Street in the Bronx at 6:44 p.m. on Feb. 24, 2025, and lists one person killed and one person injured.
Police told Gothamist that Juan Alexander Quizhpi Naranjo was riding north on Metcalf Avenue with a 14-year-old girl behind him while a 42-year-old man drove a Honda Odyssey east on East 172nd Street. Both teens were thrown from the motorcycle and taken to Jacobi Hospital, where Quizhpi Naranjo was pronounced dead.
The crash happened in Soundview, close to the teen's home.
Gothamist identified the site as Soundview and reported that Quizhpi Naranjo lived on Fteley Avenue, a few blocks from the crash location. The Daily News, citing family, described the crash as two blocks from his Bronx home.
A 17-year-old died and a 14-year-old passenger survived.
The official record identifies the person killed as a 17-year-old male driver of the motorcycle. Gothamist named him as Juan Alexander Quizhpi Naranjo, a Bronx resident, and reported that the 14-year-old girl who was riding behind him was in stable condition the next morning.
The Daily News reported that his uncle said Quizhpi Naranjo had immigrated from Ecuador about three years earlier, hoped to join the U.S. Army, and was survived by his mother and a 12-year-old brother. His mother told the paper the family wanted to return his body to Ecuador.
Sources described the two-wheeler in different terms.
The official crash record lists the two-wheeler as a motorcycle and identifies it as an XMOTOS motorbike with two occupants. Gothamist described it as a moped, while the Daily News called it a gas-powered X-Motos dirt bike.
The official record classifies the other vehicle as a station wagon/SUV. Press accounts identified it as a Honda Odyssey minivan driven by a 42-year-old man.
The Honda driver stayed, and investigators continued their review.
Police told Gothamist that the 42-year-old Honda driver remained at the scene and was not charged. The NYPD's Collision Investigation Squad was still reviewing who had the right of way and whether a traffic violation contributed.
Reports differed on the Honda driver's medical treatment: ABC7 said all three people were taken to Jacobi and that the driver was expected to survive, while News 12 reported that the minivan driver did not go to the hospital.