The reported capture of a wanted suspect in the Dominican Republic brings new momentum to a case that shook New York’s rideshare drivers.
NEW YORK — The reported arrest of a man in the Dominican Republic has reopened a high-profile Bronx homicide case, where a rideshare driver was shot to death on New Year’s Day after what investigators and witnesses described as a road-rage dispute.
Local reports identified the suspect as 24-year-old Ehinel Troncoso and the victim as 55-year-old Issa Isac-Mbolo, an Uber driver and father of four. The case has drawn continued attention because police said the suspect fled after the shooting and because driver advocates had publicly pushed for an arrest, offering reward money and repeating witness claims that the gunman may have escaped overseas.
The investigation began in the first hours of 2026. Police were called shortly before 7 a.m. Jan. 1 to the area of Morris Avenue and the Cross Bronx Expressway in the Bronx, where Isac-Mbolo was found inside his vehicle with a fatal gunshot wound to the head. He was pronounced dead at the scene. In the immediate aftermath, authorities gave only limited public details, but the broad outline that emerged from police briefings and local reporting was that the killing followed a confrontation linked to a minor crash or damage to a car. The shooting happened as the city was still waking up on New Year’s morning, giving the case immediate visibility and turning it into one of the first major crime stories of the year.
As the search widened, the NYPD publicly identified Troncoso as the suspect and released his image. That move came days after advocates for taxi and rideshare drivers held a news conference demanding action. Fernando Mateo, a spokesman for the New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers, said a witness had provided information that pointed to Troncoso and suggested he may have fled to the Dominican Republic. The federation offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. At that stage, the tip about a possible overseas escape could not be independently confirmed by the public, but it helped frame the case as more than a local search. When News 12 later reported that Dominican police had captured Troncoso, the development appeared to match the theory that the suspect left New York soon after the shooting.
The case has carried extra weight because of who Isac-Mbolo was and how he died. Family members and driver advocates described him as a working father supporting four children. Local reporting said he had spent years behind the wheel, including several years driving for Uber. His death resonated far beyond one family because many city drivers saw in it the danger of routine street conflict turning deadly with almost no warning. A small roadway dispute, if that is ultimately what happened, ended in a killing that left a family without a husband and father and left other drivers asking how a holiday work shift could end in gunfire. The public reaction was not only grief but fear about how exposed drivers can be during overnight hours and on lightly traveled streets.
Even with the reported arrest, major procedural questions remain. New York officials had not publicly laid out the full extradition path at the time of the latest reports. It was also not yet clear when the suspect might be transferred to the United States or when prosecutors would announce the precise status of charges in open court. In cross-border fugitive cases, custody abroad is only one stage. Authorities still have to coordinate identity confirmation, legal paperwork and transfer arrangements before a defendant appears before a New York judge. The next formal turning point is likely to be a statement from the NYPD, a district attorney or another law enforcement agency confirming where the suspect is being held and whether extradition proceedings have begun.
The emotional center of the story has not changed since the first day. In interviews after the killing, relatives said they were consumed by grief and anger. Driver advocates echoed that frustration, saying the case became a test of whether a worker killed in plain view of city streets would get justice. The reported capture does not answer every question about what happened in the moments before the gunfire, and it does not erase the loss felt by the victim’s family. But it does move the case from a public search to a legal process, which is where many of the hardest facts are often established in detail.
For now, the case stands at a transition point: the suspect has been reported in custody abroad, but New York authorities still have to explain the next steps. The next milestone is an official announcement on extradition and the suspect’s first expected court appearance in New York.
Author note: Last updated March 13, 2026.