A mother of four died after she was struck by an alleged drunk driver while riding an electric scooter just blocks from her home, according to the New York City Police Department.
Police identified the victim as Blancamir Arias-Miranda, 54. Officers responded to a 9-1-1 call around 1:45 a.m. on Jan. 4 near Crescent Street and 30th Drive in Queens after a 2009 Honda Civic hit a 2021 Hiboy electric stand-up scooter.
Investigators said Arias–Miranda was traveling in the bike lane when she was hit and “ejected onto the roadway.” The driver of the Honda Civic, 29-year-old Ryan Rampersaud, was not injured and remained at the scene.
EMS transported Arias-Miranda to NYC Health and Hospitals / Elmhurst in stable but critical condition. She later died from her injuries and was pronounced dead on Jan. 6, police said.
Rampersaud was charged with Vehicular Assault, Driving While Ability Impaired, Driving While Intoxicated, and Refusal to take Breathalyzer Test, according to police.
Arias-Miranda’s family described her in a fundraising appeal cited by the New York Daily News as a devoted mother whose death has left them “with unimaginable grief and sadness.”
“Shortly after the New Year, in the early hours of the morning, Blanca was heading back home when her life was senselessly cut short. Just blocks away from her house, she was struck and killed by [an alleged] drunk driver,” the post reads. “After days in the ICU, we were notified that our mother was no longer in her body. In a single, devastating moment, a preventable act forever changed our family’s lives and left us grappling with a loss that feels impossible to comprehend.”
As of Tuesday evening, Jan. 14, the fundraiser had raised just over $48,000 toward a $100,000 goal.
Loved ones also remembered Arias-Miranda as “a proud grandmother whose greatest joy was caring for and protecting those she loved.” They said she held her family together with “strength, warmth, and unwavering support,” and that her absence leaves a void that “can never truly be filled.”
The fundraising effort is intended to help cover funeral and memorial costs, ongoing household bills, and legal expenses tied to the case as her family pursues accountability.
The investigation remains ongoing with the NYPD Highway District’s Collision Investigation Squad, police said.
