Gothamist: SUV Crashes into Livery Cab, Killing 2

HarryTheCat

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:11:58 -0500

HowBoutDemCowboys -- let's remember that all life is important -- both deaths are tragic and have great impact on countless others. Ms. Velasquez has two daughters, who now have no mother. Ms. Dametriou (Penny) dedicated her life to helping children understand and cope with trauma and mental illness. The later worked in the psychiatric emergency room at Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn. There are so many aspects of this story that are so very wrong -- all beginning with SUV driver's repeated, callous disregard for anyone but himself. I weep the lives lost.

smacky

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:00:40 -0500

2 serious pieces of shit for human beings. The driver and the guy who tried to steal money from the dead.

wowthatsucks

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:37:10 -0500

Also arrested at the scene of the accident was Evangelos Fotiou, 42, of 31-18 34th St. in Queens, who was caught trying to steal money from the bodies of Velasquez and Dametriou, according to a police source. Fotiou told police as he was being arrested that he was "going to give it back," a source said. Fotiou was charged with obstruction of governmental administration in the middle of a crime scene and petty larceny. Wow, this guy is the scum that's found on the bottom of scum.

Jen Chung

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:27:35 -0500

@HowBoutDemCowboys--the driver was a woman and the lone passenger was a women. I'm working on an update about this for later.

HowBoutDemCowboys

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:26:17 -0500

I saw the nearly destroyed cab on my way to work this morning. It was parked outside of the 114th police precint. I told my girlfriend that I bet the driver didn't survive. Fast forward to reading my Metro on the train where I showed the small article to her and said that it must be the same accident, but there was no mention of the cab driver. Now I see this and that picture is definitely the same cab, but still no mention of the cab driver. It's almost as if these "news" outlets believe the passengers to be more important than the driver. I have to clink on links to other sites to find out his status.

r1b2

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:41:36 -0500

Young lives snuffed out by some moron drunk? Throw away the key. Lock the piece of crap up.

Jerky

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 02:14:05 -0500

Read the article, and you'll find the drunk driver is a Pakistani immigrant who avoided deportation, and is now awaiting trial for a senseless 2006 MURDER in Manhattan of a Prudential analyst. Nice. And he supposedly sells coffee from his father Manhattan stand, but drives a Range Rover ?? Hmmm.

NannyState

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 00:21:26 -0500

^ Her daughter was on 1010 Wins and it was so sad. The passenger was a grad student at Pace who was a fine and decent person who didn't deserve to die. I hope the SUV driver has tons of insurance and enjoys drying out in prison for the next ten+ years.

sugar2th

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 22:10:06 -0500

By the way, Bessie was the driver of the livery cab. And on that note...A woman out working on Saturday night gets killed by a senseless, selfish, animal. I hope Bessie didn't leave behind children. I live in the area and I do the same job and it could have been me or any other innocent. I will personally attend his trial and do what I can to make sure this animal gets the maximum sentence possible. Strange, I got hit by a car a few months ago that was being driven by three teenagers from Long Island they ran a red light. I keep hearing stories about Accidents involving Long Island drivers. Maybe they need to re-evaluate driving courses and responsability in Long Island

Spiritof76

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 21:57:15 -0500

No, It's always a drunk. No, it's always an SUV. Even in accidents where no alcohol is involved, an SUV is much more likely to result in fatalities. I repeat, I doubt anybody would have died in the livery cab if the drunk was driving a Smart car.

holyfrijole

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 21:25:18 -0500

I live around the corner from there. Astoria around that time of night on the weekend is filled with drunk young Euros with their expensive cars careening around the streets at crazy speeds after spending the evening drinking at the many neighborhood cafes. I've come out of my house on many a Sunday morning to find a line of cars (including mine) sideswiped down the block. One evening an SUV even drove ON TOP OF a smaller, parked car. It's crazy around here.

Duffy

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 21:04:22 -0500

This city has 24 hour public transport. Why is anyone driving drunk? You want to party? Take the train home.

NannyState

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 19:32:16 -0500

They would have survived in a Checker cab.

Mr Mel

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 18:31:12 -0500

"It's always an SUV." No, It's always a drunk.

Billiamsburg

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 16:28:58 -0500

yes, i often thought driving an suv should require a b class license and should come with a different registration and heftier fees. If only for the fact that your vehicle is causing more damage to the roads which my tax money pays for, and takes up twice as much parking spaces and room on the highways which cause congestion and gridlocks. If you need the range rover, you pay for it. If you drive it drunk, you go to prison. You kill while using it, death penalty. Seems fair.

Reflect

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 15:26:32 -0500

suv drivers are stupid, there fat egos match therer bloated cars. This country is so fucking funny it kills me. Sucks to be an american

Splicer

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 14:14:07 -0500

I live in Bayside and I see all manner of vehicle careening down 210th, Oceania and Corporal Kennedy. I see a direct correlation between age and sex of driver (young and male) and volume of booming stereo (earth shaking).

ides_of_march

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 13:55:38 -0500

Death penalty for drunk drivers who kill. I have nothing against SUV's but it might be a good idea to have a new class of license with more stringent standards and road test for driving one. Nobody under 25 should drive one either.

zpk

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 13:33:12 -0500

I live two blocks from there, and I see crazy SUV drivers barreling down the street all the time. Although, I guess the same could be said in all neighborhoods, probably. They really shouldn't wait until the accident before arresting these people.

Spiritof76

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 13:12:30 -0500

I'll write the usual line before anybody else does: "It's always an SUV." I doubt a Smart car would have done that kind of damage or killed those people, even in the hands of a drunk driver. The only bad thing about gas prices coming back down is that it takes the financial pressure off SUV drivers.