Witnesses Boxed In Fleeing Driver Half a Mile From Fatal Route 17 Hit-and-Run in Paramus; Prosecutor Alleges DWI, Suspended License

PARAMUS, N.J. — The driver accused of running over a woman on Route 17 South near Westfield Garden State Plaza on Monday evening got only about half a mile before witnesses who had followed him boxed his SUV in traffic and flagged down a Paramus police officer, according to a Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office release issued Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026.

Krisiann Reyes Rivera, 31, of the Bronx, N.Y., died after she was struck by an SUV towing a U-Haul trailer, the release says. The driver, Estuardo G. Rodriguez, 31, of Tarrytown, N.Y., is charged with second-degree death by auto and second-degree knowingly leaving the scene of a crash resulting in death. Investigators say he was under the influence of alcohol and driving on a suspended license, Prosecutor Mark Musella announced.

Charges are accusations. Rodriguez is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

What prosecutors say happened

Paramus police were called at about 5:09 p.m. Monday, Oct. 19, to a hit-and-run crash on Route 17 South in the area of the mall, the release says. Officers found Rivera lying in the road with serious, life-threatening injuries. She was taken by ambulance to HMH Hackensack University Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

According to the prosecutor’s office, the investigation found that a 2024 Acura towing a U-Haul trailer, driven by Rodriguez, had collided with a 2015 Buick in which Rivera was a passenger. After that first collision, Rivera got out of the Buick, walked to the Acura and struck one of its windows, the release says. Rodriguez then accelerated and hit her as he drove away, knocking her to the ground and running her over with the trailer’s rear tires, prosecutors allege.

Rodriguez left Route 17 South onto Garden State Plaza Boulevard, on the mall’s property, the release says. Witnesses who had followed the Acura blocked it in traffic about a half-mile from the scene and flagged down a Paramus police officer, who detained him.

The charges

• Second-degree death by auto (N.J.S.A. 2C:11-5a)
• Second-degree knowingly leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death (N.J.S.A. 2C:11-5.1)
• Third-degree endangering an injured victim (N.J.S.A. 2C:12-1.2a)
• Third-degree driving while suspended in a collision resulting in a death (N.J.S.A. 2C:40-22a)
• Multiple motor vehicle offenses, including driving while intoxicated

Rodriguez was sent to the Bergen County Jail pending his first appearance in Superior Court in Hackensack, the release says.

The prosecutor’s Fatal Accident Investigation Unit and the Bergen County Fatal Accident Task Force investigated with Paramus police, under prosecutor’s office Chief Jeff Angermeyer and Paramus Police Chief Robert M. Guidetti. Musella thanked the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office and the Leonia and East Rutherford police departments, which take part in the task force.

What fits — and what doesn’t yet

What fits: The release lays out a clear sequence, from the first collision to the detention, and credits the witnesses who followed the Acura with stopping it. The leaving-the-scene and driving-while-suspended charges match what investigators say they found.

What the public record does not yet show:

• What caused the first crash. The release says the Acura and the Buick collided but does not say how, or who was at fault.
• How impaired he allegedly was. Prosecutors say Rodriguez was under the influence of alcohol but released no blood-alcohol reading.
• Why his license was suspended. The release does not say which state suspended it, when, or why.
• The Buick’s driver. The release does not identify the driver or say whether anyone else was hurt.
• Her age. Earlier news reports, citing police, described the victim as 32. The prosecutor’s release gives her age as 31; Bergen TV uses the prosecutor’s figure.

Open questions

• Will prosecutors seek to keep Rodriguez in jail until trial, and what will a judge decide?
• Does Rodriguez have a lawyer who will comment? No defense attorney is named in the release.
• Who were the witnesses who stopped the Acura? The release does not name them.

The crash and the victim’s death were reported earlier by NorthJersey.com, News 12 New Jersey and Daily Voice. NorthJersey.com reported, citing the state Department of Transportation, that all Route 17 southbound lanes near the mall were closed for hours Monday evening while investigators worked the scene.

Anyone with information can call the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office crime tips line at (201) 226-5532, the number listed on the prosecutor’s website.

Sources: Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, “Tarrytown, NY Man Charged in Paramus Fatal Hit-and-Run,” Oct. 20, 2026; NorthJersey.com, Oct. 20, 2026. Photo: Famartin / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.