New York police (illustration)
New York police (illustration)Reuters

An arrest has been made in the murder of a Jewish jeweler in Queens in June, police announced Thursday, after a lack of leads led the family to offer a reward to find the perpetrator. 

The New York Police Department (NYPD) arrested Metropolitan Transport Authority (MTA) driver Charles Jordan, 46, of Valley Stream, Long Island on Thursday, after he was linked to surveillance footage of the murder of Aron Aranbayev. 

Jordan allegedly ran over Aranbayev after getting frustrated that the latter was in his way, according to the New York Daily News. Aranbayev had just been dropped off near his Forest Hills home when Jordan ran him over in a dark-colored Dodge Magnum - on purpose.

Aranbayev cracked his skull on the pavement, and died in a Jamaica hospital the next day. 

“He didn't have a chance,” Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said Thursday. “He was allegedly brutally rammed by a 1,000-plus pound, high-speed vehicle that violently threw him to the ground. This was a senseless, violent death that could have easily been prevented."

Jordan then returned home, told his family someone had rear-ended him, and filed an insurance claim. His family told the Daily News that they are horrified to learn of his role in the murder.