Newburgh police have arrested a 57-year-old city resident in connection with a hit-and-run crash that killed a man near South Street nearly a year ago. Alcio R. Poma-Romero was taken into custody and charged with felony leaving the scene of a fatal motor vehicle crash, with the arrest coming almost a full year after the deadly encounter.
According to DailyVoice.com, detectives arrested Poma-Romero, a city resident, on Wednesday, November 4, 2026. The outlet reports he was also issued a summons for speeding, though no details have been released about the circumstances of that ticket or the evidence tying him to the crash.
A Utility Crew's Grim Discovery
The case dates back to December 8, 2025, when a utility crew found an unresponsive man lying just off the roadway near 366 South Street at approximately 3:15 a.m., per the same account. Newburgh police officers and an Empress EMS crew responded and attempted to save his life, but he was transported to a nearby hospital, where he died from his injuries.
A separate report from Mid Hudson News identified the victim as 57-year-old Juan Vazquez and said he was struck at about 3:12 a.m. in the area of 364 South Street — a slightly different address and time than the one cited in the DailyVoice.com account. That report said Vazquez was transported by Empress EMS to Montefiore St. Luke's Cornwall Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Investigation Dragged On For Months
Police said a preliminary investigation at the time determined the man had been struck by a vehicle whose driver left the scene, and investigators collected and preserved evidence from the crash site. The Mid Hudson News report, published the day after the crash, noted that city detectives had already interviewed a driver and that the investigation was continuing, though no charges had been filed at that point. The evidence reviewed does not establish whether that driver was Poma-Romero.
Nearly eleven months passed before the Newburgh Police Department announced an arrest. Poma-Romero was processed and arraigned in Newburgh City Court, where he was remanded to custody, the station's report states.
Case Still Developing
The reports gave different location and timing details. Poma-Romero was scheduled to return to City Court for a pre-trial conference on Dec. 7.
