3 teens killed, 6 others hospitalized when Mustang collides with SUV on Staten Island
NEW YORK -- A tragic crash on Staten Island has left a community reeling. Three teenagers were killed.
CBS2's Jenna DeAngelis has also learned more about the drivers operating both vehicles.
Police say speed was a factor in the crash that claimed three young lives on Hylan Boulevard on Sunday night. A really horrific scene lingers, with people coming by all day Monday to pay their respects.
Loved ones lit candles on the sidewalk, where pieces of a car and glass remained alongside a toppled tree and mailbox.
The uncle of the teen driving one of the cars said through a translator the family is distraught.
Video of the aftermath is difficult to take in. Police say a red Ford Mustang was heading east on Hylan at an "unsafe speed" when it collided with a black GMC Yukon making a left turn onto Richard Avenue. The crash sent the Mustang into a tree so forcefully it split in two, ejecting the teens from the back seat.
The bodies were far apart from each other, the car on the other side of the road. It was crazy," neighbor Nick Manzella said. "A lot of cops, a lot of people watching, family crying, so it felt like a movie."
Neighbors that spoke to CBS2 described it as a chilling scene.
"It was pretty bad. It was a really bad scene,' one man said. "They had to be going pretty fast to be tearing a Mustang in half."
Police sources told CBS2 investigators are using skid mark measurements to determine how fast the Mustang was going.
The hospitalized driver, who hasn't been identified, is 16 years old, was in his mother's car, and only has a permit, police sources told CBS2.
The 47-year-old driver of the other car had a suspended license, according to sources, who added charges are pending.
All five people in the Yukon are expected to be OK. The three passengers in the Mustang didn't make it -- 15-year-old Ashley Rodriguez and siblings Jesie Gil Paez, 15, and Fernanda Gil Paez, 16.
"I was just shocked. I was like, wow, at a young age. Tomorrow is never promised," Tottenville High School student Guillermo Sanchez said.
"Great, great, great kids," Tottenville resident Anthony Gambino said.
Gambino, a family friend, said he is at a loss.
"The family right now is really heartbroken. They lost two and another family lost another one and there's one struggling for his life in the hospital," Gambino said.
Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez was on the scene and said some of the occupants were not wearing seat belts. He also discussed plans to make the street safer.
"This should be a stark reminder... speeding ruins lives. Drivers, please. Slow down," Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez and Staten Island Borough Commissioner Roseann Caruana detailed a street improvement project in the works on a stretch of the roadway to enhance safety, CBS2's Alice Gainer reported.
"It has one of the highest crash rate of any street in all five boroughs," Rodriguez said.
"It will be bike lanes, removing a travel lane, but installing a left turn bay," Caruana said of the improvement project.
Transportation Alternatives released a statement calling it important first step.
"But the administration must expand this project to cover the site of yesterday's crash, and elected leaders on Staten Island must stop standing in the way of its implementation and other infrastructure changes that will slow down drivers and make our streets safer in the borough," the group said.
Police sources said the Mustang has a device officials are trying to access which would tell them the speed of the vehicle at the time of the crash.
Transportation Alternatives also noted the crash happened on a Sunday, when speed safety cameras were turned off, creating what they call an open invitation to speed.
On Aug. 1, speed safety cameras will be on 24/7.