A man accused of fatally striking a DoorDash delivery driver with a car in Queens and fleeing the country has been returned to New York to face charges after spending three years in a German prison on unrelated charges, ABC7 reported.
Florin Stoian, 30, arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport Tuesday afternoon and was arrested on charges that include manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, assault and arson in connection with the death of Be Tran.
Tran, 74, was struck and killed by a speeding hit-and-run driver as he crossed Myrtle Avenue in Ridgewood on August 14, 2022. He was making his final delivery of the night, the report said.
Police say Stoian, a Romanian national, fled through Michigan to Canada after the incident. The NYPD tracked his credit card use as he traveled through the Netherlands before arriving in Germany, where he was arrested for pickpocketing and other thefts.
The BMW involved in the fatal collision was later found in a blaze that spread to seven homes, according to police.
After serving time in a German prison on theft charges, Stoian was released Tuesday into the custody of United States authorities and placed on a flight back to New York, the report said.
Ahead of his arraignment, Stoian apologized to the victim’s family and appeared to take responsibility for the crash.
“This was an accident and that’s all, I didn’t want to do it, I don’t know this family or this guy…it just happened, I was scared because I have family, I was illegal in the United States, so that’s why I did run away,” Stoian said. “I am very sorry and I don’t know how to say sorry to his family.”