A teenager crashed his Acura on Atlantic Avenue in Queens early Sunday morning and fled the scene, leaving his seriously injured brother in the wrecked passenger seat, according to the NYPD.
Cops are still searching for 19-year-old Aidan Camacho, a spokesman for the department confirmed Monday. His passenger, identified by the NY Daily News as 21-year-old Angel Camacho, remains in critical condition at Jamaica Hospital.
Police responded to the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and 85th Street, on the border of Ozone Park and Woodhaven, around 4:15 a.m. on Sunday. There, they found a 21-year-old man, apparently Angel, in the passenger seat of a totaled 2008 Acura. The NY Post reports that the man had suffered head trauma and sustained internal injuries.
According to a preliminary investigation, Camacho was driving west on Atlantic Avenue, in the left lane, when he "lost control" and struck a parked car and a tree. He fled the scene before cops arrived, according to the NYPD.
Sources told the NY Post that Camacho jumped into a passing car after the crash. He was then dropped at Interfaith Hospital, according to the tabloid, but fled.
Camacho was last seen wearing a white hooded sweatshirt and dark pants. He is believed to be about 5'8" and 130 pounds.
City Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez is sponsoring legislation to hold hit-and-run drivers accountable, following a spate of such crashes in early January. One law would create a hit-and-run reward fund with up to $1,000 for information leading to arrest, prosecution or conviction. Another would launch an alert system, similar to AMBER Alert, to notify New Yorkers every time a hit-and-run incident occurs.
Anyone with information in regards to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.
