A Bronx love triangle turned deadly for a middle-aged man Sunday when he was fatally mowed down by his younger rival — in front of the woman whose affections they both wanted, police and witnesses said.
Edward Jenkins, 43, had dated Angela Ocasio, 30, while she was briefly broken up with her 25-year-old beau, Jonathan Mejia, friends of the woman said.
She recently got back together with Mejia but still hung out with her older former flame, who was with her in a Bronx apartment on Sunday, friends said.
“The young buck came through [the home], and the argument started, and they left to go get their crews,” a friend, who refused to give his name, told The Post. “When they came back, there ended up being a car chase.”
Witnesses and police said the men drove around the block, one chasing the other from Tenney Place and Andrews Avenue to University Heights Avenue and West 176th Street.
The woman was in the passenger’s seat of Mejia’s car at the time, cops said.
The wild pursuit ended at around 3:30 a.m. at the corner of University Heights Avenue near West 176nd Street, with Mejia flooring his gold Honda Odyssey minivan and slamming into his rival, police said.
Mejia told police that Jenkins was aiming his gun at him when he mowed down the older man, law-enforcement sources said.
A neighbor, Jay Montana, 24, said, “First, I heard two shots close together. ‘Pop, pop!’ Then a minute later, I heard four more shots. I ran down to University a few minutes later and saw him on the ground.”
Jenkins was rushed to Bronx-Lebanon Hospital, where he was pronounced dead from massive head trauma, authorities said.
A gun was found next to the dying man’s body.
His neon-green sneakers were recovered about 40 feet from where his body landed, according to witnesses.
Mejia fled the scene but was caught nearby, police said.
He was charged at the 46th Precinct station house on Sunday night with murder, manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident and driving while ability impaired, authorities said.
Ocasio was being questioned as a witness in the case, sources said.
Her mother, Rosa Maria Ocasio, said her daughter had broken up with the older man just days ago.