Man Killed In Fiery Crash On Macombs Dam Bridge, Police Say

HARLEM, NY — A 69-year-old man died after crashing the SUV he was driving across the Macombs Dam Bridge earlier this spring, police said Wednesday.

The crash happened around 5:20 p.m. on March 28 as the victim drove his SUV east across the bridge, which runs over the Harlem River between Harlem and the Bronx.

According to investigators, the man suffered a medical episode while driving, causing him to veer left into the bridge's westbound lanes and collide with a sedan being driven by a 51-year-old man.

Police arrived and found the victim unconscious and unresponsive in the driver's seat of his SUV, with flames coming from the engine. Officers shattered the car's passenger window to unlock the car doors and dragged the man to "a safe distance away from the vehicle fire," police said.

Police identified the victim as Joseph Pete, a resident of Wells Bridge in Upstate New York.

Pete was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead on April 1.

The sedan driver was not injured. Police do not suspect criminality and an investigation is ongoing, authorities said.