How a driver mowed down teenager just for arguing with him in New York

A bizarre incident has occurred in Queens, New York when a rampaging Chevrolet Suburban driver vaulted sidewalk and mowed down a 16-year-old girl he argued with early Saturday.

Police said the horrific killing was caught on video.

The 38-year-old driver also struck a 32-year-old, believed to be the dead teen’s mother, at Roosevelt Ave. and Benham St. in Jackson Heights.

The older woman was hospitalized but is expected to recover, according to local media reports.

“He was driving, then he makes a turn, and he hits the girl. He did it on purpose,” a horrified cashier at a nearby deli who witnessed the crash told Daily News.

Victim Jhoanny Gomez-Alvarez was walking away from the Suburban, apparently unaware that the SUV was barreling toward her, according to the witness, who wished not to be named.

“She was walking,” the cashier said. “He hit her in the back. I was working. I came outside and I saw somebody cry, and somebody scream.”

Police sources said the driver was standing by a bar on Roosevelt Ave., near his gray 2009 Suburban with North Carolina license plates, beneath the elevated No. 7 subway line, as Jhoanny, the older woman and two other pedestrians walked by at around 4:15 a.m.

A second police source told WABC Eyewitness News that the older woman was Jhoanny’s mother.

The Suburban driver, who police believe was intoxicated, made a lewd comment to the teen, sparking an argument between him, Jhoanny, her mother and two others, one of whom is believed to be Jhoanny’s boyfriend.

The foursome then walked off, witnesses told police. It wasn’t immediately clear if the driver and Jhoanny knew each other, or what exactly was said.

The victim was more than a half a block away when the driver got into his Suburban and sped down Roosevelt Ave., cops said.

Video recovered at the scene shows Jhoanny and the others crossing Benham St. at Roosevelt Ave. They had just reached the corner when the SUV raced by, leapt onto the sidewalk and slammed into them.

The massive SUV remained on the sidewalk for about 10 seconds before it reversed and sped on down one-way Benham St., heading in the wrong direction, the video shows.

“He hit the girl, then tried to run away,” the cashier said. “He backed away and he went (down) the wrong-way street.”

The driver didn’t make it far, though. A short distance away, he slammed into an unoccupied parked car. He then abandoned the Suburban and ran off on foot, only to be arrested by responding officers.

Jhoanny died at the scene. The teen lived in Washington Heights, in Manhattan, about 11 miles from where she was killed.

“I sent my delivery man (to check it out),” the cashier said. “He told me (it was) some girl. Her stomach is outside.”

EMS rushed the 32-year-old woman to Elmhurst Hospital, where she’s expected to survive.

Cops closed off Roosevelt Ave. by Benham St. Saturday as they continued their investigation.