A hit-and-run BMW driver who three years ago crashed into a Queens Door Dash worker so hard the victim landed 164 feet away has been extradited from Germany and charged with manslaughter for the victim’s death, police said Wednesday.
Florin Stoian is accused of setting his BMW on fire before fleeing the country to evade responsibility for the crash that killed 74-year-old Be Tran the evening of Aug. 14, 2022.
Stoian, 30, was handed over to American authorities Tuesday after he was released from a German prison where he served three years on theft charges.
He was flown back to Queens on Wednesday charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, assault, arson, leaving the scene of a fatal accident, criminal mischief, tampering with evidence and reckless driving, police said.
The NYPD Highway Patrol investigates after a pedestrian was fatally struck by a car on Myrtle and Seneca Aves. in Queens on Aug. 14, 2022. (Gardiner Anderson for New York Daily News)
Tran was crossing Myrtle Ave. near Hancock St. in Ridgewood, when Stoian, speeding east in his black BMW SUV, crossed the double yellow line in an attempt to get around a vehicle in front of him and instead struck Tran, police said.
The force of the impact sent Tran flying in the air, landing 164 feet away at Myrtle and Seneca Aves., police said. Tran died at the scene.
Stoian never stopped, police said.
Doorbell video obtained by the Daily News at the time showed the BMW racing down Seneca Ave. as a passerby yelled out “Dumba–!”
hit run
Security video captures moment of hit and run in Queens.
Tran’s grieving 35-year-old daughter said at the time her family was devastated.
“He did more for me than I could ever ask for,” she said. “He was like my number one supporter.”
Stoian ditched his car on a dead-end street about a mile away at 62nd St. and 68th Ave., then came back to the car nearly eight hours later and set it on fire, police sources said. The roaring blaze damaged other cars and homes, the sources said.
Stoian again ran off, the NYPD tracking his credit card use to Michigan, the sources said. His trail went cold after that but Interpol was eventually looped into the investigation.
A shoe is seen in the street as the NYPD Highway Patrol investigates after Be Tran was fatally struck nearMyrtle and Seneca Aves. in Ridgewood, Queens on Aug. 14, 2022. (Gardiner Anderson for New York Daily News)
Stoian, a Romanian national known as a scammer and fraudster, sources said, was tracked to Canada, his native Ireland, the Netherlands and then to Germany.
He was arrested in Germany for pickpocketing and other thefts, for which he served a prison sentence under one of his aliases, Slaco Razmias, sources said.
