A hit-and-run Mercedes driver who struck and killed another motorist on the West Side Highway five years ago was finally arrested this week, police said.
Jay Taveras, 27, was charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and leaving the scene of an accident in the early-morning crash that killed Thomas Dunlea, 58, in late December of 2021, according to authorities.
Taveras was picked up by investigators Wednesday evening while at a parole meeting related to a Manhattan attempted assault conviction, according to law enforcement sources and State Correction records.
Dunlea – behind the wheel of a 2005 Hyundai Tucson – was driving south on the West Side Highway and began making a left turn onto eastbound West 50th Street around 4:20 a.m. Dec. 29, 2021 when Taveras, operating a 2021 Mercedes-Benz sedan, hit him head-on, authorities said.
The impact threw Dunlea, of Rye Brook in Westchester County, from his vehicle, cops said.
He suffered trauma throughout his body and was rushed to New York Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries on Sunday, January 2022, police said.
Taveras brazenly ran off on foot, according to authorities.
He was arraigned Thursday on an indictment and ordered held on $500,000 bail or $750,000 bond, over prosecutors’ request for $1 million bail or $3 million bond.
“The defendant’s alleged out of control driving caused a horrific tragedy,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. “Furthermore, we allege that the defendant then flees the scene, leaving the victim to die without ever alerting law enforcement. I am grateful to the dogged work of our prosecutors for building this case and pursuing accountability.”
In total, Taveras has seven prior arrests, police said.
He was sentenced to two to four years behind bars on the attempted assault conviction, prosecutors said.
He spent about a year behind bars, from July of 2024 to July of 2025, before being released on parole, records show.
Taveras’ conditional release date from parole was on April 18, with the maximum parole expiration date set for Nov. 18, authorities said.
His arrest history includes a May 4, 2023 robbery in which allegedly punched a stranger in the face while an accomplice snatched the victim’s cell phone in Washington Heights, police said.
His most recent arrest was on March 9 for drug possession, police said.
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