A driver who killed a construction worker repairing Manhattan’s Washington Bridge more than 16 months ago has been charged with reckless driving, police said Wednesday.
Jesus Juarez has also been charged with failing to yield to a pedestrian and failure to exercise due care in the crash that caused the death of Herb Henry Alesna, 41, on Aug. 2, 2024.
Alesna was repairing the Washington Bridge, connecting Washington Heights to the Bronx around 10:20 p.m. when Juarez, 36, who was heading into Manhattan, made a sudden lane change on the bridge, cops said.
Juarez’s Dodge Durango slammed into a Toyota Highlander in the left lane, then careened back to the right lane, where it slammed into a construction truck Alesna was standing next to.
Alesna died at the scene, leaving behind a wife and infant child.
Herb Henry Alesna is pictured with his wife, Eva Gyorka, and their daughter Kaia in an undated photo. Alesna, 41, was working in a closed lane on the Washington Bridge, connecting Washington Heights and the Bronx, on Aug. 2, 2024, when an SUV careened off another car and into Alesna, who died at the scene, police said. (GoFundMe)
“They took away a man’s life who had a 1-year-old daughter,” Alesna’s widow Eva Gyerko, told the Daily News, her voice breaking, at the time of the crash. “How do you go on with life not having him around?”
“He was my person,” she added. “He was my soulmate.”
Juarez and the Toyota driver weren’t injured in the crash.
After an exhaustive investigation, detectives from the NYPD’s Collision Investigation Squad charged Juarez on Tuesday. He was released without bail following his arraignment in Manhattan Criminal Court.
Juarez lives in Washington Heights, about two miles from the Washington Bridge. Alesna lived in Maspeth, Queens, officials said.
“We are still in shock and disbelief that he was taken from us so sudden,” Gyerko said. “It’s been very tough to realize that he won’t be coming home and his daughter will grow up without her papa. It feels like I lost a part of me.”
Herb Henry Alesna is pictured with his wife, Eva Gyorka, and their daughter, Kaia, in an undated photo. Alesna, 41, was working in a closed lane on the Washington Bridge, connecting Washington Heights and the Bronx, on Aug. 2, 2024, when an SUV crashed into a truck he was standing next to, police said. (GoFundMe)
Alesna, who was born in Malaybalay, Bukidnon, in the Philippines, moved to New York City with his family when he was 15 and grew up in Woodside, Queens.
After being laid off from his construction job during the COVID pandemic, Alesna started a new job with a private construction company the day after his daughter, Kaia, was born in March 2023.
He knew working construction could be dangerous and would “pray every night” that he would come home safe, Gyerko told The News, adding that the hardhat was his family’s “anchor” and sole breadwinner.
“He was patient, understanding, loving and often would go out of his way to make others feel comfortable and valued,” she said. “His immediate wish was to have another child, so Kaia wouldn’t have to grow up alone.”