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Hit-And-Run Driver Killed Brooklyn Dad On His Daughter's 10th Birthday
By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 16, 2012
Modified Nov 16, 2012
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By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 16, 2012
Modified Nov 16, 2012
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The motorist suspected of running down two pedestrians in Williamsburg early yesterday morning and then fleeing the scene on foot was arrested less than 12 hours later. 27-year-old Adam Recio is charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and leaving the scene of an accident resulting in serious injury. According to investigators, Recio seriously injured an unidentified female pedestrian and killed 35-year-old Raul De La Cruz, a father of two whose oldest daughter turned ten yesterday.
De La Cruz, 36, had planned to take his daughter to Chuck-E-Cheese for her birthday this weekend. Friends tell the Daily News that De La Cruz was separated from his wife, who lives in the Bronx with his two daughters, but that he doted on the girls and saw them every weekend. “He was always dancing with them,” one friend tells DNAinfo. A co-worker at the garage where De La Cruz worked as a parking attendant tells the website, ''He was a very, very nice person, always joking around. He was always looking to see if anybody needed anything. He made me feel welcome."
The fatality occurred at a notoriously dangerous stretch of Borinquen Place in Williamsburg, blocks from the bridge. In January, 57-year-old Lepoldo Hernandez was struck and killed by two drivers on Borinquen, about a block away from the scene of yesterday's incident. At approximately 5 a.m. De La Cruz and the woman were halfway across Borinquen and "were waiting in the striped area between the yellow lines in the center when the eastbound Chevy, which was trying to pass another vehicle, slammed into them," a police source tells the News.
“In 30 years of driving I've never seen anything like this," truck driver Miguel Bocourt, 57 tells the tabloid. “The guy was going so fast. He was like a bat out of hell." The impact sent Del La Cruz "flying up in the air,” and into the other lane of traffic, where he was run over again by the driver of a 2004 Kia, who stayed at the scene. Bocourt says he tried to chase Recio on foot, but escaped, only to be arrested later that day. According to the NYPD, Recio has prior arrests for drugs, forgery and grand larceny.
Tagged
AIS
brooklyn
hit and run
raul de la cruz
williamsburg
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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