Driver Charged in Fiery Gowanus Crash; Mercedes Driver Dies
A city crash record lists unsafe speed in a Sept. 14 Gowanus crash, and police said Alexey Ivanov allegedly ran a red light before a three-vehicle collision in which Arturo Alberto Baez Cordero died.
What We Know
On Sept. 14, 2025, at about 6:25 p.m., city records place a fatal motor-vehicle crash at 2nd Avenue and 9th Street in Gowanus and list unsafe speed as a contributing factor. Police told reporters that Alexey Ivanov, 38, was driving a Honda Odyssey north on Second Avenue when he allegedly ran a red light and collided with a Mercedes driven west on 9th Street by Arturo Alberto Baez Cordero, 34. Reporters said the Mercedes was pushed into a Dodge pickup and one car caught fire. Baez Cordero died after being taken to Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. Ivanov was arrested and charged with offenses reported to include manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, reckless driving and disobeying a traffic control device.
Police said a red-light violation preceded the crash
City records place the crash at 2nd Avenue and 9th Street at 6:25 p.m. on Sept. 14, 2025. Police told reporters that Alexey Ivanov drove north on Second Avenue in a Honda Odyssey, allegedly ran a red light, and collided with a Mercedes driven west on 9th Street by Arturo Alberto Baez Cordero.
After that first impact, the Mercedes was pushed into a Dodge pickup, and one car caught fire, according to press accounts citing police and scene video. Firefighters pulled someone from the wreckage, and Baez Cordero later died at the hospital.
The city crash record lists one motorist killed and two motorists injured. Police accounts reported by Brooklyn Paper and News12 said four people were injured, including a 38-year-old woman from the Honda who remained in critical condition.
The man who died was identified as a filmmaker from New Jersey
The fatality record lists a 34-year-old male driver as the person killed. Police identified him to reporters as Arturo Alberto Baez Cordero of Lodi, New Jersey.
El Diario reported that Baez Cordero was a Dominican filmmaker who had founded a production company in New Jersey and came from a family of filmmakers and artists.
Police charged the Honda driver after the crash
Brooklyn Paper reported that police arrested Ivanov hours after the crash on charges including manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, reckless endangerment, reckless driving, speeding and disobeying a traffic control device. News12 also reported assault and obstruction charges, and said detectives described the investigation as active.
The city vehicle record attributes unsafe speed and traffic-control disregard to the northbound Honda entry.
The corner sits on a heavily injured 9th Street corridor
The crash happened at 2nd Avenue and 9th Street in Brooklyn. CrashCountNYC location context for 9th Street in Brooklyn counts 602 crashes, 322 injuries, 23 serious injuries and 2 deaths since 2022.