NYPD uses fatal victim’s dash cam footage to track down Bronx hit-run driver

NYPD cops tracked down a Bronx hit-and-run driver using dash cam footage caught by the victim, who was killed in the brutal crash on the Bruckner Expressway, police sources said Wednesday.

Sadiel Ramirez Payano, 21, faces charges including leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle following the Sunday crash, which killed 51-year-old Armando Rodriguez.

Rodriguez had pulled over on the right shoulder of the expressway’s northbound lanes near Exit 8 by Pelham Parkway around 5:15 a.m., police and prosecutors said.

The man was taking a look at the passenger side of his car when Ramirez Payano, sped past and struck Rodriguez, according to prosecutors.

Rodriguez died at the scene and Ramirez Payano fled behind the wheel of a 2020 Toyota Camry with a distinctive tail pipe, officials said.

The slain man lived in Middletown, Orange County, about 70 miles north of the city, according to police.

Police investigating the crash were able to pull footage from Rodriguez’s dash camera, which caught Ramirez Payano’s unique tail pipe.

Using this footage, cops were able to track Ramirez Payano’s car before and after the crash, police sources said.

They eventually found the car on Waring Ave. near Lodovick Ave. in Pelham Gardens, the hood covered with a blanket.

Under the blanket was significant damage, including the broken driver-side mirror, a cracked windshield and a missing piece of the front bumper, which cops recovered at the crash site.

A woman in the neighborhood told police her niece was in the car with her boyfriend during the crash and the couple had been drinking beforehand, according to police sources.

Cops were continuing to investigate the claim on Wednesday.

Following an arraignment in Bronx Criminal Court, Ramirez Payano was released on a $20,000 cash bail or a $75,000 bond.