NYC Taxi Driver Charged After Fatal Pedestrian Dragging on Bridge

A Queens cab driver has been arrested in connection with the death of a former Rikers Island inmate who once escaped from police custody, as reported by the New York Post.

Authorities said Abdul Hakim, 71, was taken into custody Saturday after allegedly striking 36-year-old James Mossetty with his 2021 Toyota RAV4 around 4:50 a.m. on York Avenue near East 72nd Street in Manhattan.

Man dragged, killed by hit-run NYC SUV driver year after escaping Correction custody https://t.co/L9uIbloUih

— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) September 1, 2025

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According to the New York Police Department, Mossetty became lodged in the vehicle following the impact and was dragged across several blocks before becoming dislodged near the Queensboro Bridge.

He was later pronounced dead at New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center.

Police reported that Hakim was arrested hours after the incident. In a criminal complaint, investigators noted that Hakim admitted he was driving at the time of the collision and recalled hearing “a loud sound like he hit something.”

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He also told police that his vehicle began to feel as if it were “dragging something.”

Despite these admissions, authorities said Hakim did not stop to check. Less than an hour later, he turned the taxi over to another driver with whom he shared the vehicle.

That driver quickly noticed damage to the hood that had not been there the day before. When questioned, Hakim denied hitting anything.

Hakim now faces charges of leaving the scene of an incident without reporting. Because the collision resulted in Mossetty’s death, the misdemeanor was elevated to a felony. Hakim was ordered held on $100,000 bail and is scheduled to appear in court on September 5.

Mossetty had a history of run-ins with law enforcement. In July 2023, he escaped police custody while being treated at Bellevue Hospital. Authorities said he slipped out of his handcuffs before being recaptured two miles away on an MTA bus.

At the time, he was facing misdemeanor charges of assault, theft of services, and criminal possession of a controlled substance. The theft of services charge was tied to his alleged refusal to pay a $36 cab fare in Lower Manhattan.

Following news of his death, Mossetty’s relatives described him in a social media memorial as a devoted father, brother, and uncle, writing that he had “more lives than a cat.”

The NYPD said the investigation into the incident remains ongoing.

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