Man struck, killed by driver in alleged Upper East Side road rage attack

NEW YORK CITY - A minor fender bender on the Upper East Side escalated into a violent dispute that left a man from Long Island dead.

Police responded to a 911 call Wednesday just after 4 p.m. for a motor vehicle collision on E 60th St., between Park and Lexington Avenues. There, they found a 54-year-old man lying on the sidewalk with severe body trauma.

Upon further investigation, police found that the victim, identified as Roberto Velez Alvarez, of Franklin Square, was driving a Chevy Silverado westbound on E 60th St. when he collided with a Volkswagen Jetta driven by 26-year-old Andre Mosby.

According to police, in an apparent episode of road rage, Alvarez got out of his truck and slashed two tires on the Jetta.

Witnesses said it all happened with Mosby’s wife and young daughters in the vehicle.

Mosby then slammed on the gas, striking Alvarez, and pinning him against Café Oxford, police said.

The impact was so strong, it shattered the café’s front windows.

"Some of the firemen started working on the owner of the truck, really kind of violently doing CPR," witness Jay Ahn recalled.

Alvarez was rushed to New York Presbyterian Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Mosby remained at the scene and was later taken into custody at the NYPD’s 19th Precinct, where he was charged with manslaughter and assault.

"I just don't understand how a minor fender bender and someone cutting someone off can turn into this," said Evan Xenopoulos, owner of the Oxford Cafe. "I think people as I said earlier today need to have more empathy for each other.  They need to start respecting each other more."

Onlookers believe he was acting to protect his family. 

"That’s not a situation you would want to have your kids in, in any type of situation, so you would just want to get them out of there and I could tell that’s what his mindset was," witness Michael Gee explained.

Nobody else was injured.