Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced today that Argenis Rivas, 29, has been charged with felony assault, endangering the welfare of a child and other crimes for striking a 4-year-old-child in a parking lot in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park while riding a motorized scooter on Sunday, July 18. The defendant allegedly hit the child with the vehicle and then fled the scene.

District Attorney Katz said, “What began as a recreational Sunday in the park turned into a nightmare for a Queens family. As alleged, the defendant was illegally riding a scooter through the park when he recklessly hit a child and kept going. The City has seen an unacceptable increase in defiant drivers of all types of vehicles driving illegally and hurting people. It is time we stand together to prevent further harm.”

Rivas, of Parsons Boulevard, Queens, is being held pending arraignment today on a complaint charging him with assault in the second degree, leaving the scene of an incident, endangering the welfare of a child, reckless driving and driving without a license. If convicted, Rivas faces up to 7 years in prison.

According to the charges, around 5:45 pm on Sunday, July 18, 2021, the defendant was operating a motorized scooter in the Meadow Lake Boat Rental parking lot within Flushing Meadows-Corona Park.

According to the complaint, the defendant was allegedly operating the vehicle at a high rate of speed in the crowded parking lot when he struck the little boy, who fell to the ground, appeared to be unconscious and was bleeding from the head. The child sustained severe injuries and remains in critical condition at a nearby hospital.

DA Katz said the defendant rode away from the scene and failed to stop to offer any aid to the child or to report the incident. Rivas was taken into custody on July 21 after a three-day search by police.

The case is being handled by the District Attorney’s Supreme Court Trial Division under the supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney Pishoy B. Yacoub.