{"id":99277,"date":"2026-01-13T21:50:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T21:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/99277\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T21:50:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T21:50:07","slug":"mom-of-four-struck-by-drunk-driver-while-riding-electric-scooter-in-queens-crash-dies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/99277\/","title":{"rendered":"Mom of four struck by drunk driver while riding electric scooter in Queens crash dies"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Queens mother of four riding an electric scooter was fatally struck by a drunk driver a few blocks from the victim\u2019s home, police<\/a> and heartbroken family members said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Blanca Arias<\/a> was riding her Hiboy stand-up electric scooter<\/a> in the bike lane when she was struck by the driver of a 2009 Honda Civic near Crescent St. and 30th Drive in Astoria about 1:45 a.m. Jan. 4, cops said. The driver has been charged with vehicular manslaughter.<\/p>\n

Arias, 54, was thrown from her scooter and hit her head on the asphalt. Suffering a massive brain injury, she was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital<\/a>, where she was put on life support.<\/p>\n

She died of her injuries at the hospital two days later, police sources said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter days in the ICU, we were notified that our mother was no longer in her body,\u201d Kaleena Goldsworthy wrote in a GoFundMe post seeking donations to help with doctors\u2019 bills and funeral expenses. \u201cIn a single, devastating moment, a preventable act forever changed our family\u2019s lives and left us grappling with a loss that feels impossible to comprehend.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur mother was more than just a victim of a tragic accident,\u201d Goldsworthy added, noting that Arias was heading home and \u201cjust blocks away\u201d from her house when she was hit.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was the heart of our family \u2014a devoted wife, a fiercely loving mother, and a proud grandmother whose greatest joy was caring for and protecting those she loved.\u201d<\/p>\n

The GoFundMe had raised over $40,000 within 24 hours of its Monday launch.<\/p>\n

\"BlancaBlanca Arias was riding her Hiboy stand-up electric scooter in the bike lane near the corner of Crescent St. and 30th Drive in Astoria at about 1:45 a.m. on Jan. 4 when she was struck by a 2009 Honda Civic driven by 29-year-old Ryan Rampersaud. (Google)<\/p>\n

Driver Ryan Rampersaud, 29, wasn\u2019t hurt but reeked of alcohol and was unsteady on his feet when police arrived. He refused to take a Breathalyzer test, according to court documents.<\/p>\n

Vomit was found inside his Honda after the crash. \u201cI threw up,\u201d he told police, admitting he had about two beers five hours earlier.<\/p>\n

He was initially charged with drunk driving and vehicular assault but after Arias died prosecutors added a charge of vehicular manslaughter.<\/p>\n

Police determined he was traveling south on Crescent St. and making a left turn onto 30th Drive when he rammed into Arias.<\/p>\n

Cops on the scene noted that Arias was \u201cbleeding from the head\u201d when they arrived. At the hospital, investigators were told that she had suffered \u201csevere brain trauma\u201d and had been put on life support.<\/p>\n

Rampersaud lives in South Jamaica, according to cops.<\/p>\n

A Queens Criminal Court judge ordered him held on $50,000 bail during his arraignment on Jan. 4, then increased the bail to $100,000 when he was charged with vehicular manslaughter on Friday, three days after Arias died.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe leaves behind her husband, four children, and beloved grandchildren, all of whom are now facing life without the woman who was their constant source of love, guidance, and stability,\u201d Goldsworthy said in the GoFundMe post. \u201cThe void her absence has created can never truly be filled.\u201d<\/p>\n

With Emma Seiwell<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Queens mother of four riding an electric scooter was fatally struck by a drunk driver a few…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99278,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[262,263,266,85,267,9,24,264,12,63,261,122,124,123,265],"class_list":{"0":"post-99277","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-city","9":"tag-county","10":"tag-crime-and-public-safety","11":"tag-latest-headlines","12":"tag-local-news","13":"tag-new-york","14":"tag-new-york-city","15":"tag-new-york-county","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-nyc","18":"tag-nyc-crime","19":"tag-queens","20":"tag-queens-headlines","21":"tag-queens-news","22":"tag-sub-county-region"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=99277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}