NYPD announces arrest of driver in fatal hit and run of 3-year-old Queens boy

A driver with a learner’s permit was arrested Thursday for fatally striking a 3-year-old boy while he was crossing the street in Queens, Wednesday evening.

Police said Kevin Gomez, 20, was charged with leaving the scene of an accident that resulted in death and driving alone without a license. Drivers who hold a learner’s permit in New York must be accompanied by a licensed driver over the age of 21, according to the Department of Motor Vehicles.

NYPD officials said Gomez was pulling away from a parking spot in a white Infiniti around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday when Quintas Chen crossed in front of his car near College Point Boulevard and 41st Avenue in Flushing.

Chen was struck and gravely injured by the impact, while police allege Gomez drove off.

According to the Daily News, Chen was with his father, returning home from a doctor’s visit for a runny nose and cough. Chen moved to cross the street by himself, and was just ahead of his dad when he was hit.

First responders rushed Chen to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Queens, but he could not be saved.

The NYPD’s Highway District Collision Investigation Squad was still looking into the incident Friday, and police said additional charges could come for Gomez, depending on the outcome.

Chen’s death follows a string of recent traffic fatalities across the city, including that of 7-year-old Kamari Hughes, who was struck and killed by a NYPD tow truck driver in Brooklyn last month.

The repeat accidents have led to outcry from residents and advocates, who are criticizing Mayor Eric Adams for abandoning campaign promises to make the city’s streets safer for pedestrians.

On Thursday, Adams announced that he plans to make intersections safer by reducing parking spots around them, or “daylighting,” so that drivers can more easily see pedestrians crossing.