Estuardo Rodriguez

Introduction

Estuardo G. Rodriguez is a 31-year-old from Tarrytown, New York, who is charged with second-degree death by auto after prosecutors say he deliberately ran over a woman with his car and U-Haul trailer on a northern New Jersey highway, killing her. According to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, Rodriguez and 31-year-old Krisiann Reyes Rivera were involved in a minor collision on Route 17 in Paramus on the evening of October 19, 2026; after Rivera slapped one of his car’s windows, Rodriguez allegedly accelerated away and struck her, and the trailer he was towing ran over her. Prosecutors also charged him with leaving the scene of a fatal accident, endangering an injured victim and driving while suspended, and said he was under the influence of alcohol with a suspended license at the time. He was booked into the Bergen County Jail.

Background Information

Little public background on Rodriguez appears in the coverage beyond what surface-level records show. The New York Post described him as a Tarrytown native, and jail records listed him as a U.S. citizen who was born in the United States, according to Daily Voice. The 2024 Acura he was driving — an electric vehicle towing a U-Haul trailer southbound on Route 17 near the Westfield Garden State Plaza mall — belonged to a friend who had loaned it to Rodriguez to help him move, law-enforcement sources told Daily Voice. Rivera, the woman who died, was a 31-year-old Bronx resident riding as a passenger in a 2015 Buick Enclave.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Charged, not convicted. Rodriguez faces second-degree death by auto, second-degree knowingly leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, third-degree endangering an injured victim and third-degree driving while suspended in a collision resulting in death, along with motor vehicle offenses including DWI. He has not been tried, has made no public statement, and attorney information was not immediately available; he is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The encounter began as a fender-bender. Prosecutors say the Acura towing the U-Haul collided with Rivera’s Buick in the southbound lanes of Route 17 near Garden State Plaza shortly after 5 p.m. on Monday, October 19, 2026. Rivera got out of the Buick and approached the Acura as its driver appeared to be leaving the scene, and slapped or banged on one of its windows, according to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office.

What happened next is the heart of the case. As Rivera returned toward her car, investigators said Rodriguez gunned his engine and drove off — and per Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella, “Rodriguez then accelerated and struck Ms. Rivera while driving away, knocking her to the ground and running her over with the rear tires of the trailer.” Court documents state he struck her while fleeing toward Garden State Plaza Boulevard, a road on the mall property, knocking her to the ground before the trailer’s rear tires passed over her.

Witnesses saw the fatal ramming unfold and chased Rodriguez’s vehicle as he tried to speed away. A group of them blocked his car in traffic about a half-mile from the crash scene — near a Neiman Marcus, per Daily Voice — then flagged down a Paramus police officer, who took him into custody. Officers reported smelling alcohol on Rodriguez’s breath and observing that his eyes were bloodshot; he refused field sobriety tests and was arrested on suspicion of driving while intoxicated, according to court documents. Investigators determined he was operating the Acura under the influence of alcohol and while driving with a suspended license, Musella said. Rivera was found lying on the highway with severe injuries, taken by ambulance to Hackensack University Medical Center, and pronounced dead there.

Public Reaction and Consequences

Coverage centered on the sheer disproportion of the escalation: a window slap after a minor highway scrape ending in a pedestrian being run over by a trailer, as alleged by prosecutors. The New York Post’s framing — a “drunken” driver mowing a woman down over a slapped car — traveled widely, and the witness response drew attention: strangers chased the fleeing vehicle for a half-mile and boxed it in rather than let him vanish. The crash itself snarled one of Bergen County’s busiest corridors: all southbound lanes of Route 17 near the Garden State Plaza closed for hours Monday evening as the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, Paramus Police and the county Fatal Accident Task Force worked the scene, with traffic diverted onto Route 4 until the highway reopened around 8:15 p.m.

Current Status

As of October 21, 2026, Rodriguez is held at the Bergen County Jail pending his first court appearance in state Superior Court in Hackensack. Court and jail records show nearly a dozen offenses tied to the crash, including knowingly leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident resulting in death, DUI, two counts of reckless driving, careless driving, unsafe operation, improper backing or turning, two citations for driving while suspended or revoked, and failure to possess a registration and insurance card, according to Daily Voice’s review of Paramus Municipal Court records. No attorney information was immediately available, and no plea has been entered. The charges are allegations; Rodriguez is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Impact on Their Career/Life

Rodriguez’s life now runs through a homicide court calendar rather than a moving job: the borrowing of a friend’s car for a move placed him behind the wheel of a fatal case that carries second-degree death by auto and fatal hit-and-run charges, a suspended license, and an alleged DWI. For Rivera’s family, a 31-year-old Bronx woman died at a hospital hours after stepping out of a car to confront a driver she believed was leaving the scene. The case joins New Jersey’s recent run of roadside confrontations turning lethal, and its outcome — plea, trial or dismissal — will determine whether the prosecutors’ account of a deliberate, drunk and unlicensed flight becomes the record.

Sources

“Drunken NY nutjob mows down woman who slapped his car after minor NJ fender-bender: prosecutors” — New York Post: source
“Drunk driver kills woman who slapped his car after Bergen County crash” — NJ.com: source
“UPDATE: Woman Killed By U-Haul Trailer In Route 17 Hit-And-Run, Driver Charged With Vehicular Homicide” — BCNews Now: source
“Mugshot Shows Route 17 Driver Charged In Deadly Hit-Run Outside Garden State Plaza” — Daily Voice: source
“Drunken NY nutjob mows down woman who slapped his car after minor NJ fender-bender: prosecutors” — New York Post on X: source