Accused Of Killing Two Pedestrians, S.I. Driver Out On Bail

Allmir Lekperic, the 26-year-old Staten Island driver charged with fatally striking an elderly couple walking to a Thanksgiving Eve church mass and leaving the scene, posted the $50,000 bail. And his sister was also arraigned, for her part in trying to help him cover up his crime.

The Staten Island Advance reports, "Mirsada Nikezi, 30, of Dongan Hills, was charged with falsely reporting an incident in the third degree, a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail." Police believe that Lekperic told Nikezi to call the police and say his Ford Econoline van was stolen. But Lekperic decided to come forward, and, according to the criminal complaint, admitted on Thursday, "I was in an accident earlier, and I know where the van is. It's by [Susan] Wagner High School, on the corner. It's a white van."

Lekperic's license had been suspended 29 times and he now faces "two felony counts of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, which carry a maximum of seven years in prison, and a misdemeanor count of aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle in the third degree." The Advance adds, "His citizenship status is unclear. According to his arrest report, he was born in the United States but is not a citizen, which could possibly make him subject to deportation if convicted, a law enforcement source said. It also appears as though Lekperic ran an unlicensed home improvement business."

As for the victims, a funeral is being planned for Peter and Lillian Sabados at Our Lady Queen of Peace, the church they were headed to before they were killed. They had been carrying canned good to donate to the needy; their son told the News, "That's the people they were. Honest and caring people."