2 Racing Drivers Sentenced for Hit & Run Death on Henry Hudson Parkway

The two men responsible for the death 42-year-old motorcyclist Joel Quintana have been sentenced to prison.

Quintana, a resident of the Inwood section of Upper Manhattan, was killed on the night of Aug. 3, 2023, as he was riding his 2022 Honda GROM motorcycle to work southbound on the Henry Hudson Parkway. A father of six, Quintana worked as a manager at the Loews Regency Hotel at 540 Park Ave.

At around 10:50 p.m., near West 145th Street and the Riverbank State Park overpass, Quintana was struck from behind by a speeding gray BMW driven by Marcos Vega-Pagan, now 26, who had been racing another car driven by Cary Brown, now 30.

Quintana, having been thrown from his bike, was immediately run over by Brown, who was speeding in a black Mercedes-Benz, and who had been trailing Vega-Pagan in the race. Authorities estimated their speed at 80-to-90 mph.

Quintana died soon after the crash, at Harlem Hospital.

“Not one of them had the remorse to stay behind,” Quintana’s sister, Carolina Rodriguez, told the Daily News.

Brown afterwards ditched the Mercedes, which cops from the Highway Collision Investigation Squad found later that month, leading to his arrest.

It’s notable that Brown, a Brooklyn resident, had two prior car-related busts on his record. In March 2023, he had been arrested and faced multiple charges for a road-rage incident in Queens.

In the Bronx on July 18, 2023, Brown was charged with assault, resisting arrest, unlicensed operation, and harassment.

Despite the second list of charges, Brown was released on his own recognizance. That meant no bail, and so Brown—still without a driver’s license— was able to kill Joel Quintana three weeks later.

According to Department of Correction records, at the time of his incarceration on Aug. 31, 2023, Brown was a citizen of Jamaica, with an outstanding Immigration warrant against him.

Around a week later, Marcos Vega-Pagan was arrested.

On Oct. 13, D.A. Bragg indicted both men on a slew of charges.

Both men were hit with one count of Manslaughter in the Second Degree; one count of Assault in the First Degree; one count of Leaving the Scene of an Incident Without Reporting–Causing Death; and one count of Criminally Negligent Homicide.

Vega-Pagan received additional counts of Insurance Fraud and Falsifying Business Records because, the day after he rammed Quintana’s motorcycle, he called up his insurer, Allstate, and claimed his car had been damaged in a parking incident.

Brown got his own additional charge of Aggravated Unlicensed Operation of Motor Vehicle.

Both men accepted guilty pleas to reduced charges, and both were recently sentenced forthe crimes of Leaving the Scene of an Incident Without Reporting and Criminally Negligent Homicide:

Vega-Pagan was sentenced to 3-2/3 to 11 years in prison, while Brown was sentenced to 3-to-9 years in prison.

“This was a horrific tragedy that has left a family with six children continuing to grieve,” said D.A. Bragg. “Accountability for out-of-control driving is an important component of achieving overall public safety. When people fail to follow the rules of the road, it puts the well-being of everyone who goes about their day in Manhattan at risk.”