A 15-year-old Queens armed mugging suspect on an e-bike fleeing NYPD cops was fatally struck by an unlicensed hit-and-run Lexus driver with an atrocious driving record after crossing into Long Island, police said Sunday.
Cops responding to a 911 call about a knifepoint robbery in progress outside a corner pharmacy in Floral Park came across the suspect fleeing on the e-bike about 8 p.m. Saturday, police said.
Officers pursued the teen for a little over a mile from Hillside Ave. and 257th St. into New Hyde Park in Nassau County, just over the Queens border, an NYPD spokesman said.
The teen was headed east on his e-bike on Bryant Ave. when a 2015 Lexus GX 460 driven by 28-year-old Ruyan Ali slammed into him while going south on Lakeville Road, Nassau County police said.
The pursuit started on Hillside Ave. and 257th St. in Queens. (Google)
Ali, who had a suspended license and whose car registration had expired, crossed into opposing traffic to pass a car that was slowing to a stop in front of him, according to a criminal complaint.
The teen died at the scene, and Ali tried to flee but was arrested nearby, Nassau County cops said.
Ali is charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident, aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle and traffic violations, Nassau cops said.
According to the criminal complaint, Ali has racked up at least three license suspensions on three separate dates.
A license plate search on howsmydrivingny.nyc shows the Lexus he was driving racked up 53 speeding camera violations, 8 parking violations, one red-light violation and one bus lane violation since 2019. All but three of those violations took place in Queens.
Ali was arraigned in 1st District Court in Hempstead Sunday, where his bail was set at $50,000 cash, $100,000 insured bond or $500,000 partially secured bond. He’s due back in court Tuesday.
His lawyer did not immediately return messages seeking comment Sunday.
The fatal crash occurred on Bryant Ave. and Lakeville Rd. in New Hyde Park. (Google)
The NYPD’s Force Investigation Division is probing the crash that killed the teen, who was not immediately identified by police.
NYPD officials did not provide more details about the alleged robbery or specify if the officers had abandoned the pursuit before the crash.
The department recently changed its pursuit policy, allowing officers to chase suspects in their vehicles only when a felony crime or a violent misdemeanor is committed.
The guidelines, effective Feb. 1, came amid widespread criticism over the last few years that the NYPD routinely engaged in unnecessary pursuits that lead to crashes and injuries.
Cops chased 2,278 fleeing vehicles throughout the five boroughs last year. About a quarter of those pursuits, 569 in total, ended in a collision that caused either property damage or harmed someone, the NYPD said.
Instead of following fleeing drivers responsible for traffic violations, the department will rely on “advanced tools of modern-day policing” to track down and apprehend the suspects, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in January of the new policies.
Prior to the new policy, NYPD car chases surged during the Adams administration as cops tried to curtail the use of ghost cars — vehicles with fake license plates, NYPD officials said.
On Oct. 22, mobbed-up ex-con Bekim Fiseku, 54, sped off in a Dodge Ram pickup truck from NYPD cops responding to a call about a burglary in progress at a warehouse on Crescent St. near 37th Ave. in Long Island City, officials said. Police chased Fiseku for nearly a mile, into Astoria, where he fatally T-boned 37-year-old Amanda Servedio on her bicycle at 37th St. and 34th Ave. The impact sent Amanda Servedio flying off her bike and she slammed into a parked BMW.
Video shows an NYPD van in hot pursuit, its lights flashing, when Fiseku allegedly struck her.
Fiseku, on federal probation with ties to the Bonanno crime family, abandoned his damaged vehicle about a half mile away and was captured at a motel in Jersey City in February. In June he was hit with a slew of charges for the crash including murder, manslaughter and assault.
The crash heightened scrutiny of the NYPD’s pursuit policy.
With Rocco Parascandola
Originally Published: July 13, 2025 at 11:38 AM EDT
