QUEENS — The hit-and-run that killed jeweler to the stars Aron Aranbayev was the first homicide in the 112th Precinct in three years, police said.
Aranbayev, whose clients included Jay-Z and Khloé Kardashian, was being dropped off on Sunday evening in front of his house on 71st Avenue in Forest Hills and got into a dispute with a driver of a passing car, his family said.
At some point the driver reversed and then sped forward, hitting Aranbayev, who died Monday, police said.
The precinct, which covers the quiet and affluent neighborhoods of Forest Hills and Rego Park, has seen relatively few violent crimes in recent years.
The area recorded several burglary sprees and armed robberies. It has also been targeted by car thieves.
But the overall crime rate in the precinct has been among the lowest in the city.
"This is a property-crime driven precinct...which is good because it’s not violence-driven," said Deputy Inspector Judith Harrison, the precinct’s commanding officer, during a November community meeting.
According to police records, a homicide took place in the precinct took place on June 29, 2011, when a 26-year old man was found unconscious in his bedroom. His girlfriend, who discovered the body, told investigators that when she came to the apartment, the front door was open and the apartment was in disarray.
An autopsy performed the following day deemed that the man died from compression of the neck and the case was ruled a homicide. No arrests have been made in that case, police said.
The precinct also recorded a vehicular manslaughter on July 10, 2012. A construction worker setting up cones on the corner of 70th Road and the Grand Central Parkway was struck and killed by a drunk driver.
The driver was arrested and a Breathalyzer test registered a .214 blood alcohol level, nearly three times the legal blood alcohol content limit of .08.
Local residents said they were shocked to learn about the deadly hit-and-run. But they also insisted that it was an isolated incident.
“It was shocking to hear about the death in the neighborhood due to an altercation,” said JP Freeley, 44, a lifelong Forest Hills resident and local activist.
“It was a terrible accident, but it’s certainly not indicative of that neighborhood."
