CLARKSTOWN – A 20-year-old Irvington, New Jersey man was arrested by New York State Police on a manslaughter charge following a one-year investigation of a fatal car crash on the Palisades Parkway in the Town of Clarkstown.
Valentino Merceda was remanded to the Rockland County Jail in lieu of $5,000 cash bail or $20,000 secured bond.
Police responded at about 9:45 p.m. on April 13, 2023 to a three-car crash on the southbound parkway near exit 10 in Clarkstown.
A preliminary investigation revealed that Merceda was driving as 2001 BMNW south when he and another driver, Cyrus Silverio, 20, of Clifton, New Jersey, driving a 1992 BMW, also traveling south at a high rate of speed on the exit ramp, both attempted to pass a 2024 Nissan Rogue.
Police said the two men attempted to merge into the right lane colliding with one another. The crash caused the BMW driven by Silverio to overturn, strike the Nissan and a rock bridge abutment, the structure that connects the bridge to the ground.
Silverio was declared dead at the scene.
