NYPD investigating Central Park carriage horse crash that killed teen tourist

Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News on Jun 18, 2026

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

NEW YORK — The NYPD is investigating the Central Park carriage horse crash that killed an 18-year-old tourist, officials confirmed Thursday.

Cops from the Central Park Precinct are looking into the crash and have interviewed the carriage horse driver, who had stepped away from the carriage to take a photo of victim Romanch Mahajan and his family before the horse got spooked and raced off, a police source said.

No charges have been filed.

The teen was visiting the U.S. from India with his family. They were celebrating Romanch’s high school graduation with the trip when the carriage horse mishap occurred about 2:45 p.m. Wednesday.

The family clutched onto one another as the carriage tipped over at Cherry Hill near Bethesda Fountain, but the boy’s mother fell out.

Romanch reached out to help his mother and fell out of the carriage, his family told the New York Times.

“My son, just to save his mother, he fell off,” the 44-year-old father told The Times. “He was screaming, ‘Mom!’”

The teen hit his head and was knocked unconscious. He was taken to an area hospital, where he died about 6:45 p.m., police said.

Police reports confirm that Romanch fell out of the carriage, but it was unclear what caused the horse to race off.

“This incident should be taken very seriously,” Romanch’s father, Deepak Mahajan, told The Times. “It took my son’s dream away.”

Members of the Transport Workers Union, which represents about 200 carriage horse owners and drivers in the city, said when the driver stepped away to take the photo he violated standard procedure.

“It appears the driver was at least at arm’s length from his horse to take a photo of his passengers in the carriage,” a union official said in a statement. “This is unacceptable. A driver is not supposed to leave the carriage to take photos – ever.”

The union supports a “full investigation, the union official added.

The driver of the carriage has been indefinitely suspended and the horse has been taken out of service, according to the union.

The incident comes a week after a horse died after ingesting a poisonous plant in the park.

The fatal accident is also sparking renewed calls for the City Council to pass Ryder’s Law, which would ban the horse carriages from Central Park.

---------