The family of a motorcyclist killed in a Brooklyn Belt Parkway hit-and-run crash with a stolen Mercedes had pleaded with him to get rid of the bike — but he was still riding it and parking it in a garage so they wouldn’t know, heartbroken relatives said Tuesday.
Besim Muminovic, 28, told his siblings he had ditched the Yamaha YZF-R1 motorcycle, only to be thrown from it Sunday night after colliding with a Mercedes just off the Shore Parkway in Sheepshead Bay in a crash that also killed the stolen car’s passenger, cops said.
Muminovic was getting on the parkway from the service road when he was struck by the Mercedes driver, who was getting off the parkway at the Ocean Parkway exit. The Mercedes flipped upside down in the crash.
Muminovic had just gotten the motorcycle a few months ago.
“We were fighting with him when he got the bike,” Muminovic’s oldest sister, Bisera Muminovic, 45, told the Daily News.
“Me, my brother, my sister were like, ‘No we’re not giving you the keys to suicide. You’ve got to get rid of this bike’ … He told us that he got rid of it but we had no idea he still had the bike. He was parking it in a garage.”“
Besim Muminovic and his sister, Bisera. (Courtesy of Family)
Besim, an assistant manager at a Long Island car dealership, had spent the evening watching football at a friend’s house before telling his buddies he was heading out because he was tired, his sister said.
He never made it home.
“He was just the sweetest, most kindest soul,” the sister said. “Everybody loved him. There was not a person that didn’t fall in love with him. He had an infectious smile. He was sensitive and he had such a big heart.”
Cops said the Mercedes driver, who was in the center lane of the Belt Parkway, tried to exit the highway, crashing into the motorcyclist, forcing him into a chain-link fence about 11:30 p.m. Sunday.
Cops said the Mercedes driver, who was in the center lane of the Belt Parkway, tried to exit the highway, crashing into the motorcyclist, forcing him into a chain-link fence. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
The Mercedes driver then veered onto the right-hand grassy shoulder and struck a tree — with the impact sending the luxury car flying as it flipped over and landed on its roof, the car’s airbags deploying.
The motorcycle and Mercedes struck several unoccupied parked cars after hitting each other.
Medics rushed Besim and the Mercedes passenger to NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn, where both men died.
The Mercedes driver miraculously survived the crazed crash and ran off. He has not been caught and cops are working to determine his identity and the identity of his dead passenger.
The car was reported stolen in East Brunswick, N.J., on the day of the crash, police said.
Cops said the Mercedes driver, who was in the center lane of the Belt Parkway, tried to exit the highway, crashing into the motorcyclist, forcing him into a chain-link fence. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
“He went in his garage and two guys pulled up with a gun, robbed him, took the car,” the 22-year-old Mercedes’ owner’s uncle told The News. “They took his phone and everything. They’re maniacs.”
Police sources told News 12 Brooklyn that a gun fell out of the Mercedes when crews flipped the crashed vehicle back over.
“Why did you leave two people dead and run away?” Besim’s sister said. “ Why would you do that? Don’t you believe in God? Don’t you believe in karma? Something?”
”Even if they don’t physically catch him, I believe in karma,” she added. “Some way you know, some sick twist of fate is gonna get him. I hope they catch him and we have some peace. That’s so cowardice to kill somebody and just walk away like nothing happened.”
Besim Muminovic and his mother. (Courtesy of Family)
Muminovic was a major mama’s boy who lived upstairs from his mother in Astoria, Queens.
“He loved my mom beyond anybody,” Bisera said. “He even got her birthday tattooed on his chest in roman numerals … He said to my mom, ‘Mom when you die I’m gonna bury you in the backyard so I can see you everyday.’”
The family never imagined Besim would die first.
“She woke up this morning and before she even opened her eyes she just started wailing,” Besim said of her mother. “She woke up crying because, she said, ‘I’m used to him walking up the stairs. When he’d walk up you’d hear him. I don’t hear anything. I don’t hear any footsteps.’”
Muminovic’s girlfriend, who gave her name only as Julie, 26, said he had only gotten the motorcycle so he wouldn’t have to inconvenience his mother by using her car.
Theodore Parisienne/New York Daily News
The motorcycle that was ridden by Besim Muminovic is removed after a crash with a Mercedes in Brooklyn. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
“He wasn’t even planning to keep the bike,” she said. “He didn’t have a car so he thought it was convenient at the time but he told me he was getting rid of it.’”
She knew Besim still had the motorcycle and kept his secret.
“I was so close to telling but he would’ve been so mad at me,” the girlfriend said. “I know he was scared of the bike himself. He never did anything crazy with the bike. I know he wasn’t swerving in between lanes. He always told me we need our helmets. He had a helmet, I got a helmet.”
Besim Muminovic (Courtesy of Family)
She said he planned to get another car since he had just gotten a promotion at the dealership.
His family described him as a macho man who liked playing football and lifting weights. Relatives said he held a New York state powerlifting deadlift record at 733 pounds.
Despite his strength and physique, Besim was sweetheart, his girlfriend said. The couple was planning on marrying next summer.
“He made an impact on everybody’s life,” she said. “He really did. He motivated everybody.”
With Thomas Tracy and Colin Mixson
Originally Published: October 21, 2025 at 5:02 PM EDT