The long-delayed trial for a Bronx suspect accused of running down beloved veteran FDNY EMT Yadira Arroyo nearly six years ago was set finally for a Wednesday start.
Arroyo, a 14-year veteran EMT and mother of five sons, was killed on March 16, 2017, with defendant Jose Gonzalez accused of hijacking her ambulance and running the victim down. The defendant has 31 prior arrests.
The murder case has dragged across more than 50 ensuing hearings before he was finally found fit for trial in the shocking death that rattled the city.
The court date was finally set this past September after seemingly endless legal wrangling on his mental competence for trial.
The defendant’s first court appearance in the case came in April 2017, when he pleaded not guilty. Gonnzalez is charged with murder, manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence of drugs in the death.
But the prosecution bogged down quickly. During one court appearance last March, Gonzalez insisted he ran over the beloved Arroyo by accident — before blaming the victim’s EMT partner for the death and denouncing a Bronx prosecutor handling the case as a Satanist.
Relatives of the victim and her fellow EMTs turned out for every hearing as the case dragged on, with numerous psychiatric examinations and postponements.
Arroyo, 44, was with her partner driving through the Bronx when they spotted Gonzalez riding on the back of their ambulance. Once they pulled over, Arroyo stepped outside to investigate — only to see Gonzalez climb inside the vehicle, throw the ambulance in reverse and run her down.
The callous killer then allegedly put the vehicle in drive and ran the victim over one more time before an off-duty MTA police officer and several bystanders tackled Gonzalez as he tried to flee.