A Romanian national confessed to journalists on Wednesday that he was responsible for fatally mowing down a senior in Queens back in 2022, before fleeing the scene in what was deemed a cold case.
According to police sources, 30-year-old Florin Stoian was extradited to New York from Germany after he had spent three years behind bars for pickpocketing in the country.
During this prison stint, the NYPD investigated a deadly hit-and-run in Ridgewood, Queens in the summer of 2024 that left 74-year-old Be Tran dead. The probe ultimately tied Stoian to the crime.
Cops say Stoian was driving a BMW along Myrtle Avenue near Hancock Street at around 7:40 p.m. on Aug. 14, 2022 when he attempted to bypass traffic. He swerved into the opposite lane and struck Tran, who was working as a delivery driver, and sent him hurtling 150 feet. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Meanwhile, Stoian fled, ditched his vehicle, then returned and set it ablaze. In the process, cops said, the fire spread to several other vehicles and a nearby building.
“The defendant obviously had no thoughts of helping that victim, no thoughts of his family that he leaves behind, and no thoughts of facing the consequences for his actions. Instead, he thought about himself, and he ran like a coward,” Lieutenant Jag Singh of the NYPD’s Collision Investigation Squad said.
Sources familiar with the investigation report that Stoian is a known “scammer,” a member of a Romanian crime syndicate, and used several fake aliases.
Police initially tracked one of his phony credit cards to Michigan before losing sight of him after he escaped into Canada. However, Singh said the department never gave up, even after years had passed, until they tracked him down to Germany.
“Whether you run across the street or you run across the globe, as was the case in this instance, the New York City Police Department is not going to stop. We’re going to advocate for our victims. If you committed such a heinous crime, we’re going to go to the ends of the earth to make sure you’re caught,” Singh said.
NYPD detectives traveled to Germany and picked up Stoian the moment he was released from prison there. They then flew back with the suspect to the Big Apple, where he was taken to the 104th Precinct stationhouse in Queens.
Stoian has been hit with a laundry list of charges, including manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, assault, arson, leaving the scene of an accident, criminal mischief, tampering with physical evidence, and reckless driving.
He was escorted out of the stationhouse by detectives to be whisked to court that afternoon but refused to answer for the alleged crime. Yet while being worked into the courthouse, he admitted to the slaying.
“It just happened,” Stoian said. “It was an accident. It didn’t want to do it, I am sorry for his family. I have family too, I have kids. It is hard for them. I was scared, that’s why I ran away.”
The suspect was brought to Queens Criminal Court for arraignment Wednesday, and ordered held in custody without bail.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz echoed the comments of the NYPD.
“Crossing an ocean does not erase criminal responsibility in Queens County.Working with our federal and international law enforcement partners, including authorities in Germany, my Extraditions Unit and Vehicular Homicide Unit were able to identify the defendant despite his use of an alias, locate him overseas and secure his return to Queens to face justice in our courts,” Katz said.
