Staten Island man charged with murder in hit-and-run crash with Queens cyclist

The man who prosecutors say struck and killed a Queens cyclist while speeding away from the scene of a burglary last fall was indicted this week on charges including murder and manslaughter, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.

Bekim Fiseku, a 54-year-old Staten Island man, is accused of killing 36-year-old Amanda Servedio as she biked through an intersection in Astoria in October. Prosecutors said Servedio, whom community members recalled as an avid cyclist, had the right of way.

“The defendant allegedly led police on a 10-minute chase through the crowded streets of Long Island City and Astoria to avoid responsibility for his actions,” Katz said in a statement. “He then abandoned his damaged vehicle and fled the jurisdiction.”

An NYPD spokesperson did not comment on that assertion but said the department's Force Investigation Division is continuing to investigate the incident.

Fiseku, who was on supervised release on federal charges at the time of the crash, faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted on the state charges.

Around 11 p.m. on Oct. 22, the night Servedio was killed, Fiseku and an accomplice tried to break into a commercial building at 38-27 Crescent St. in Long Island City, Queens prosecutors said.

After a 911 call led police to the scene, Fiseku and the other man fled in their Dodge Ram pickup truck, which had duct tape over its license plate, according to federal and Queens prosecutors. Surveillance videos captured them speeding, weaving in and out of bike lanes, and running red lights, according to the indictment.

At the intersection of 37th Street and 34th Avenue, the men allegedly struck Servedio, sending her flying off her bike and into a parked car. NYPD officers who were chasing the truck stopped to help Servedio, but the men drove on, prosecutors said.

Servedio was just returning from a cycling event when she was hit, according to her friends and family. First responders took her to Elmhurst Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Police found Fiseku’s truck the next day, about a mile from where Servedio was struck, according to the Queens DA’s office. They also found his cellphone and various tools allegedly connected to the burglary, including a pry bar, a screwdriver, bolt cutters, a hammer, a mask and gloves, prosecutors said.

“This was a terrible accident that was caused by the police engaging in an unjustified chase,” Fiseku’s attorney, David Louis Cohen, said in a statement. “There was no reason for the police to engage in a high speed chase through city streets when the 911 call was only for a suspicious vehicle."

After Fiseku vanished, probation officers filed an emergency petition because he was still under the terms of supervised release for his federal case, according to court documents.

The federal court issued a warrant for his arrest and police tracked him down in February at the Skyway Motel in Jersey City, the documents state. Fiseku had marijuana, apparent cocaine, a list of names, a fake New York ID and a hat with gray hair that he had been using to conceal his identity, federal prosecutors said.

Fiseku remained in federal custody until he was charged with Servedio’s murder Monday, according to the Queens DA. A state judge ordered him held in jail until his next appearance, which is scheduled for July 30.

This story has been updated with additional information.