Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Carnage

Double-Parked Vehicle Led to Death of Bronx Cyclist — Yet Driver is Uncharged

Add a double-parked car to this image and you have the makings of a disaster. Photo: Google

A double-parked car on Park Avenue in The Bronx began a chain of events that caused the death of a cyclist on Thursday afternoon — but the NYPD neither charged the driver of the illegally parked car or the driver of the truck that killed the bike user.

According to police, a box truck was traveling northbound approaching the intersection of E. 138th Street at around 5 p.m. when he "attempted to navigate around" a double-parked vehicle. At roughly the same time, cyclist Jose Luis Estudillo Garcia, 38, "attempted to pass between the two vehicles."

It's unclear what happened next. According to police — whose investigation includes testimony of the truck driver, but not the victim — Garcia "lost control and fell to the street, where he was struck by the rear passenger wheels of the moving box truck." He suffered "severe body trauma" and died at the scene.

The NYPD declined to provide more information, but a spokesman did say that neither driver was charged.

The Daily News reported that the truck driver, whose name was not released, had just turned out of a parking lot on Park Avenue before the crash. The paper also quoted a police source, who said of the truck driver, "“It appears he didn’t even see the bicyclist."

The details of the crash are eerily similar to the sequence of events that caused the death of cyclist Madison Lyden on Central Park West in 2018. The truck driver who killed Lyden was charged, but the cab driver whose double-parked vehicle started the incident was not charged, even though cops said they recommended charges to District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr.

The crash came less than a week after another cyclist, Ivan Morales, was killed just two blocks away.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Tisch Appoints ‘Forward-Thinking’ New Transportation Bureau Chief

Meet Lola Obe, the new head of the all-important bureau.

March 28, 2025

City Won’t Commit to Safer Walking and Biking on Atlantic Avenue Despite Upcoming Rezoning

DOT officials shocked Council members on Thursday when they claimed it would take seven to 10 years to make the street safer.

March 28, 2025

Friday’s Headlines: Crime vs. ‘Crime’ Edition

Crime is down, but a sizable portion of New Yorkers still use the word "unsafe" to describe this city and its subway. Plus other news.

March 28, 2025
See all posts