Motorcyclist Killed In Washington Heights Crash, Police Say

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — A Washington Heights man died Wednesday night in a traffic collision just a few blocks away from his home, police said.

Manuel Hernandez, 40, was driving his motorcycle on West 178th Street around 9:15 p.m. when he collided with a sedan in the intersection of Fort Washington Avenue, police said. The 2009 Lincoln sedan was traveling south on Fort Washington Avenue and made contact with Hernandez' motorcycle, police said.

Officers found Hernandez lying in the intersection suffering severe bodily trauma, police said. He was rushed to Harlem Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said.

The driver of the sedan, 53-year-old Ayman Zarik of Queens, stayed on the scene of the crash and waited for police to arrive, police said. The Queens man was arrested and charged with criminally negligent homicide, implying some fault in the collision, police said.

Hernandez lived in a building on St. Nicholas Avenue and West 179th Street, just four blocks away from the site of the crash, police said.

Photo by Patch