A 34-year-old driver from Wyandanch was killed early Sunday when police said he took a wrong turn onto the Hutchinson River Parkway in New Rochelle, colliding head-on with a sport utility vehicle.
Westchester County police identified the victim as Joel Jimenez and said he was driving a Toyota Prius south on the northbound parkway when his vehicle collided with a Cadillac Escalade at 4:12 a.m.
A patrol officer responding to the scene found Jimenez “unresponsive behind the wheel,” according to a news release from police, who said the officer pulled Jimenez from the car — and administered CPR.
Emergency responders from the New Rochelle Fire Department and Empress EMS also began care at the scene, transporting Jimenez to the Westchester County Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 5:07 a.m., police said.
The subsequent police investigation determined the Toyota driven by Jimenez entered the parkway at Webster Avenue — and said it collided with the Cadillac just south of there.
The driver of the Escalade and two passengers in that vehicle suffered minor injuries and were treated at the scene, police said.
Police said the crash remains under investigation. Additional details were not immediately available on Monday.
More coverage: Every 7 minutes on average a traffic crash causing death, injury or significant property damage happens on Long Island. A Newsday investigation found that traffic crashes killed more than 2,100 people between 2014 and 2023 and seriously injured more than 16,000 people. To search for fatal crashes in your area, click here.
John Valenti, a Newsday reporter since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press, Society of the Silurians and National Headliner Awards for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing. He is the author of “Swee’pea,” about New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. His debut crime novel, “For Nothing Is Hidden,” rooted in 1950s Long Island, was released in October 2025.