Callous hit-and-run U-Haul driver arrested months after killing pedestrian left a trove of stolen credit cards behind: prosecutors
A heartless hit-and-run U-Haul driver accused of fatally plowing into a pedestrian near Queens College over the summer was nabbed this week — and prosecutors allege she left the vehicle full of stolen credit cards.
Jamie Ferreira, 37, was arrested Tuesday and charged with manslaughter, assault, burglary and a slew of other crimes for the Aug. 20 crash that left 56-year-old pedestrian David Opiela dead.
The reckless driver allegedly sped down the Horace Harding Expressway, jumped the curb and smacked into Opiela before hitting a light pole and a motorist and eventually ditching the vehicle barefoot with passenger Jennifer Sablan, 43, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
After the duo ran away, investigators discovered a trove of evidence inside the truck including several stolen credit cards and a checkbook, a laptop, a benefits card in Ferreira’s name, a forged postal service key, a phony $100 bill and metal key rings, prosecutors allege.
“The defendant fled the vehicle with her passenger Jennifer Sablan, and the contents of the U-Haul truck revealed that the duo were involved in other crimes, including identity theft,” Katz said in a statement.
The truck was allegedly rented using a fake name.
Investigators also found four notebooks containing financial details including names, addresses and Social Security numbers of Elmhurst residents, who were allegedly the victims of a burglary committed by Ferreira months earlier.
Ferreira allegedly used a postal service key to snatch packages and envelopes out of residents’ locked mailboxes at an apartment building on Van Kleeck Street in Elmhurst on June 28, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said Ferreira’s DNA was left on the U-Haul’s airbag, and she was caught with the help of the NYPD, the Postal Inspection Service and the Secret Service.
Meanwhile, Sablan, of the Bronx, was charged with forged instrument, criminal possession of stolen property, possession of burglary tools and 59 counts of unlawful possession of personal identification information.
A Queens judge ordered Ferreira held without bail, while Sablan’s bail was set at $30,000 cash.
Opiela was “in the prime of his life” when he was killed, his family wrote on a GoFundMe page raising money for his funeral expenses.
“The driver and passenger of the U-Haul, both women, heartlessly fled the scene on foot leaving David to die in the street,” they wrote.
Additional reporting by Amanda Woods
