Astoria Man Arrested In Hit-And-Run That Killed Boy, 5: Police

ASTORIA, QUEENS — An Astoria man has been arrested in connection with this month's hit-and-run in East Elmhurst that killed a five-year-old boy, police said Wednesday.

Xavier Carchipull, 40, faces charges including leaving the scene of a fatal crash, driving without a license and operating an unregistered vehicle for his alleged role in the Sept. 1 crash that claimed the life of Jonathan Martinez, police said.

Police say Carchipull was behind the wheel of a white 2018 Dodge Ram and was headed north along McIntosh street, when he tried to make a hairpin turn left onto 100th Street.

Jonathan, who lived just steps away, was walking home from the park with his father and three siblings at the time, the New York Post reported.

Video shared by police depicting the moments leading up to the crash shows the white pickup swerving around the corner and heading directly for the group as they begin to cross the street. The driver then fled the scene, police said.

Days after the crash, police circulated surveillance footage and photos of the truck involved in the crash as they searched for the suspect.

In an interview with the Post one day after the crash, the boy's heartbroken father asked the then-unidentified driver to turn himself in.

"I forgive you, we are human," Richard Martinez said. "All I ask [is] turn yourself into authorities."

Carchipull, the suspect, lives near 34th Avenue in Astoria, police say.

Related coverage: Boy, 5, Killed By Hit-And-Run Driver On Elmhurst Street: Police