A social media influencer known for drag-racing videos died in a car crash early Wednesday on a New York City expressway.
Andre Beadle, 25, of the Bronx, was speeding as he was driving a 2023 BMW shortly before 1:15 a.m. on the Nassau Expressway in Jamaica, Queens, New York police said.
“The driver lost control and veered to the right, causing the vehicle to travel off the right side of the roadway into the right shoulder, striking a metal pole,” police said in a statement. “This caused the vehicle to veer back across the eastbound lanes to the left shoulder, ejecting the operator from the vehicle.”
Beadle was declared dead at a hospital, police said.
The investigation, police said, is ongoing.
Beadle, who amassed 246,000 Instagram followers and nearly 60,000 YouTube followers, had recently posted videos showing off the power of a BMW M240.
In a video on Instagram, the car reaches speeds up to 130 mph in slightly more than three seconds and 100 to 150 mph in slightly under three seconds. A caption for the video read: “It’s just a bmw.”
In a video posted this week on YouTube, what appears to be the same purple BMW is seen racing from multiple angles.
In a nighttime video, a group of men is seen blocking traffic on a highway and slicking the roadway to prepare for the race.
It was not clear whether the BMW in the social media posts was the vehicle involved in the deadly crash.
Fans posted tributes after Beadle’s death. “Rest easy,” a poster said. “You did great things for the street and drag racing scene. Forever a legend.”
Others criticized him for failing to take safety seriously.
