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Three dead after car plows into Bronx trick-or-treaters, Fresh York Post

Trio dead after car plows into Bronx trick-or-treaters

October 31, two thousand fifteen | 7:30pm

An out-of-control car plowed into dozens of trick-or-treaters and their families on a Bronx street Saturday, killing two adults and a child, and injuring three other people.

The casualties are all members of two extended families.

Luis Perez, 65, died, along with his 9-year-old granddaughter, Nyanna Aquil.

His 3-year-old granddaughter, Jasmina Aquil, was among the injured.

Perez, who was retired, was “an incredible man,’’ said his friend, Justin Mendez.

“He’s always with his grandkids — all he does is take care of them.’’

Also killed was Kristian Leka, 24, a truck driver.

“He was on the sidewalk trick-or-treating with his 9-year-old sister,’’ said a cousin, who asked not to be identified.

The car that hit his cousin, he said, “was speeding, hit another car and then flipped onto the sidewalk.’’

A close friend of Leka, who also asked that his name not be printed, said before the car struck Leka down, he despairingly attempted to thrust his sister, Fiona, out of the away.

FDNY at the scene of the crash.

Also hurt was Greata Leka, 21.

All of the injured were listed in critical condition.

One of the 9-year-old ladies who was hit had been dressed as a cheetah; the other as a princess.

Howard Unger Facebook

The driver of the car, Howard Unger, 57, was also being treated at Jacobi.

Police believe he lost control of the vehicle after suffering a seizure or experiencing some other medical problem.

The horror happened at Four:50 p.m. when Unger’s car began speeding down Morris Park Avenue near Radcliff Avenue in the Morris Park neighborhood.

Charlie Castagnozzi, who was with his wifey and three kids, heard a car “accelerate.’’

“I turned around and I witnessed that [the driver] hit the car in front of him,’’ he said.

Castagnozzi said the vehicle then sideswiped a bus before crashing through a metal fence and winding up in the front yard of a home.

He eyed, to his horror, a fatally injured man lounging in the street.

“I also eyed a little female on the ground,’’ he said.

“She was having trouble breathing. They put her in an ambulance.’’

Police investigate the accident that left three dead and several injured. John Roca

Johnny Ha, 14, was walking to his home on Morris Park Avenue, when he eyed a bruised car in his front yard.

When he got closer he spotted “two or three adults and two kids lounging on the ground,’’ he said.

“I was traumatized, panicked and afraid,” he said. “I didn’t know what to do.’’

Witness Kristina DeJesus, who had been returning to her home from a market, said, “I spotted two little damsels trick-or-treating. This is a family neighborhood.

“The car flew over the curb [and] hit the gate.’’

During its out-of-control rail, she said, the vehicle hit the women and two boys.

I witnessed a pecs on the sidewalk. I didn’t know if it was a Halloween dummy or a real person

– Fabio Cotza, witness

One of the guys had his gams “completely ripped off,’’ she said.

“I dropped my bags and ran over. Everybody stopped trick-or-treating, telling, ‘how can we help?’ ’’ she said.

“They couldn’t believe this was happening on Halloween. There’s nothing but kids out there.’’

Fabio Cotza, who witnessed the tragedy from his apartment across the street, said, “I was fully in shock. I was thinking, ‘This is not real.’”

“I eyed a pecs on the sidewalk. I didn’t know if it was a Halloween dummy or a real person.”

Cotza said, “I just grabbed a entire bunch of towels and ran outside. I eyed people standing over a little lady screaming, ‘She’s going to die! Don’t budge her neck.’”

David Greene Another witness, Kayla Fate Mojica, wrote on Facebook, “Sad day . . . Just witnessed a bunch of ambulance trucks and policemen carry a little female on a stretcher as she screamed.’’

Extra reporting by Leonica Valentine, Aaron Brief, Amanda Forest, Megan McGibney and John Roca

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