Driver Sought in Fatal Hit-and-Run Crash in Melrose

Cyclist Fatally Struck by Car

Melrose Avenue is shut down from East 161 Street to East 157 Street after a fatal hit-and-run that claimed the life of a 24-year-old bicycle rider Thierno Balde, 24, on February 23. -Photo courtesy of Citizens App.

By David Greene 

Bronx Voice 

February 26, 2024 

BRONX - Police are looking for the driver who struck and killed a bicycle rider in Melrose, before fleeing the scene.

 

According to police the incident was reported at 5:57 a.m. on February 23, at the intersection of Melrose Avenue and East 161 Street. An unnamed police official told the Bronx Voice, "The 24-year-old male bicyclist was removed by EMS to NYC Health and Hospitals / Lincoln, where he was pronounced deceased."

 

The police official continued, "Further investigation by the NYPD Highway District's Collision Investigation Squad determined that a Jeep Grand Cherokee was traveling southbound on Melrose Avenue and approached the intersection of East 161 Street with a green traffic signal. The bicyclist was traveling eastbound on East 161 Street and traveled through a steady red signal." 

Police say the Jeep Cherokee struck the bike rider in the intersection and fled the scene.

 

Police identified the victim as 24-year-old Thierno Balde, 24, of Townsend Avenue in the Mt. Hope section of the borough.

 

Citizens App video showed police stopped next to a vehicle with visible front-end damage. Citizens App user "QueensNewsNow" claimed that the victim was a delivery driver, and the striking vehicle was a Jeep Land Rover with Pennsylvania plates that was abandoned at the intersection of East 158 Street and Melrose Avenue. 

Police officials could not immediately confirm or deny these claims.   

Anyone with information in regard to this incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the CrimeStoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/ or on Twitter @NYPDTips. 

All calls are strictly confidential.