Former NYPD detective Victor Romero was driving a company Range Rover for a $2 billion investment firm when he allegedly shot and killed a Con Ed worker in a road-rage clash on the George Washington Bridge.
Romero, 62, had been tailgating Koran Irvine on the Jersey-bound lanes of the span late Tuesday night, Manhattan prosecutors said. He fired a single shot into Irvine’s vehicle, then sped away without stopping or dialing 911, they alleged.
The ex-cop was arrested Wednesday and ordered held on $1 million bail. He was charged with manslaughter Thursday in the death of Irvine, a father of two who worked for the utility company.
Romero had left the NYPD in 2001 after serving as a Brooklyn narcotics detective. Since then, he had worked private security jobs and was currently employed as a driver for QVT Financial CEO Dan Gold, law enforcement sources said. The biotech and energy investment firm put him behind the wheel of its Range Rover SUV at the time of the deadly altercation.
Gold, a Harvard-educated executive, founded QVT in 2003, according to his LinkedIn page. Online records show the hedge fund manages more than $2 billion in assets. It remains unclear how long Romero had been working for Gold at the firm.
A company representative addressed the incident in a statement Thursday. “We are aware of the press reports concerning Victor Romero and are cooperating with the authorities in this matter,” the rep said.
Irvine’s killing came during evening rush on one of the nation’s busiest crossings. The 47-year-old George Washington Bridge carries more than 100 million vehicles annually between New York and New Jersey, and its upper-level Jersey-bound lanes were the scene of the fatal confrontation.
Romero’s law enforcement background and his current role protecting a wealthy finance executive have drawn scrutiny to the shooting. His nearly two-decade tenure with the NYPD ended in 2001, well before he transitioned into the private security world that eventually placed him with QVT Financial.
The investigation into Tuesday night’s shooting continues as Romero remains in custody on the seven-figure bail set following his Wednesday arrest.