Toddler killed by SUV
 

[quote="New York City News Day":2168f]Girl, 3, pushed in stroller by her mother, is run down by driver entering crowded Harlem gas station

BY MARLENE NAANES AND LUIS PEREZ
Marlene Naanes is a freelance writer. Luis Perez is a staff writer.

September 2, 2005

A 3-year-old girl being pushed along in a stroller in East Harlem was killed yesterday after a sport utility vehicle heading into a busy gas station ran her over, police and witnesses said.

A long line of motorists jammed a BP/Amoco station at East 125th Street and Second Avenue as Iris Gonzalez, 28, and her toddler, Jamie Roman, passed on the sidewalk at about 5:30 p.m., police and a relative said.

Two sport utility vehicles - one idling on a street ramp trying to get into the gas station, another trying to get off the corner lot - blocked their path, police and witnesses said.

The driver of the SUV heading into the gas station lunged forward, dragging the carriage under it before it barreled into a minivan waiting behind the pump, police and a witness said.

"They hit her like a sandwich into the van," said Franklin Mercedes, 39, a radio DJ.

Mercedes whipped out a video camera, and recorded the driver pulling back from the wreckage before accelerating into a parked yellow cab.

The child was rushed to Harlem Hospital Center, where she was pronounced dead at 6:10, police said. Gonzalez was treated at the hospital for shock.

Mercedes said the child's mother, who was not injured, rushed toward him, and sat down with her only child in her arms.

"When I saw her face, it didn't look to me like she was breathing," he said.

"Why didn't this happen to me? Why did this happen to my baby? I want to die," Gonzalez was heard screaming at the scene, holding the girl in her lap. Nearby, the child's baby doll lay covered in blood. The driver of the car did not leave the scene and was being questioned by police. No charges had been filed last night.

The driver's husband, Eric Salgado, said the driver of the other SUV, which fled after the incident, honked repeatedly at his wife.

"She got out to call 911 right away," Salgado said of his wife.

The driver of the minivan that was rear-ended, Larry Spriggs, said the mood at the station, where regular gas went for $2.99, was tense.

"It was frantic," said Spriggs, a construction worker. "Everybody was waiting, moving slowly. Nobody had patience."

Richie Perez, 27, a relative, said Gonzalez was headed to her mother's house a few blocks away.

He said Gonzalez was too distraught to speak to him at the hospital.

"She couldn't explain to me what happened," he said. "She said she wants to be with her daughter."

Marlene Naanes is a freelance writer. Luis Perez is a staff writer.[/quote:2168f]


loney:

RIP, but i like the subtle statement of the gas price at the station to make a point

i can only imagine how devestated the parents must be

Her mother should go outside for Crawford Ranch and demand why her daughter was killed.

From the news stories I've been reading about gas prices and Katrina, I'm sensing a lot of tension coming from the States. Is it that palpable down there?

I mean, gas prices are insane here too, but you don't see standoffs at gas stations.

That is a truly sad story. annoy:

... Shut the fuck up, your not funny, and your not being witty. Your just being a spiteful dickhead.

And Zoner, alot of people are pissed over gas prices (Even though the rest of the world has been paying 5 and 6 USD for years.)

Yeah.

I mean, people are pissed off here too, but they aren't ramming cars in the parking lot (and god forbid children in strollers).

What a fucked up world. I'm gonna buy a converter for my car and run it on waste grease. My exhaust will smell like fish sticks. rock:

lol, I wouldn't mind being behind a taco smelling car.

sleeping: sleeping:

There is an unmistakable tone of tension from the rising gas prices.

However, I'd bet that this incident is completely isolated from the mini-energy crisis. Think about it. Things like this happen. The media picks up these stories when they can draw a loose corollary between a tragedy and national concern. It’s an interesting question of sociology. How does society at large influence what happens to us each day? I have a strange feeling similar incidents will pop up in the coming weeks. The question then will be: “did this happen because of the gas crisis, or because of the tragic story I saw Wolf Blitzer crying about?” I don’t know the answer, but I’m betting on the latter.

For your leisure reading, Google: “Micronesian suicide in the 60s.” Very interesting indeed.

Yeah, you're probably right. I'm still gonna run my car on leftover grease.

[img]http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/c/cb/Groundskeeper_willie.jpg[/img]

"Lunchlady Doris, have you got any grease?"
"Yes. Yes we do."
"Then grease me up, woman!"
"Okey-dokey."

ROFL

Actually, my friend's brother-in-law did that a while back. I met him last summer, and although he holds some important position with an automotive company, he kind of smelled like a McDonald's employee of the month. Anyhow, he swears by it and says he gets most of his grease for free. Good luck.

lol.

roflcopters

People are that fuckin retarded over here in the US anyways, if it wouldnt have been gas, it would have been beer, or sports tickets, or a ps3 or whatever. RIP to that girl and I feel bad for her mom. Fucking fags.

the gas has gone up so fast its unreal. I filled up both cars on Wednesday and Im glad I did It is $.60 more per gallon now. I bought about 42 gallons on Wednesday that would have been an extra $25

im just gonna start driving off without paying.

Have fun getting shot.

happy: seems like a foolproof plan to me! biggrin:

I filled up my other car this morning and paid just over $50 for my trouble. I can quickly temper my anger though when I see the poor bastards on the Gulf Coast without any homes or hope for the future. All I have to do is cut the weekly family trip to the Cheesecake Factory, PF Changs, or other foo foo overpriced restaurant out of the equation and I'm maintaining status quo. For the most part Americans don't want to make any sacrifices. Not that skipping the Mongolian Beef at PF Chang's is much of a sacrifice.

Anyway, this story sucks and I hope they flog the bastard who ran over the kid.

Dicks like that usually drive SUVs cuz they think they're cool.

RIP little girl...hopefully he is murdered for what he did.

ahhahhahahahahah mad:

Really didn't read the article....too damn depressing. Anyone with kids of their own has trouble reading shit like that. My heart goes out to the parents.

I'm sorry to hear about that little girl, but why does the press always write about SUV's like they are a living thing, "little girl run over by SUV"....shouldn't it be "litle girl run over by an idiot that can't drive"? I don't think I've ever read, "Little girl run over by stationwagon." Or "little girl run over by four door sedan".

that sucks

LOL true. Never read the make and model of the car...

This Mercedes guy sounds like a total scumbag. He videotapes it, then makes a completely insensative comment about it "Like a sandwich"???? annoy:

You're a fucking douche.

ROFL

calmdown:

that is just fucked. people need to callllm down and just wait. its gonna be hard but fuck, is it worth a kid dying?