'It Just Felt Like A Nightmare': Family Members Of Teenager Killed In Roosevelt Boulevard Crash Speak Out
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Family members of the 19-year-old driver killed in a violent crash on the Roosevelt Boulevard spoke to CBS3 following the tragedy Sunday. Cindy and Long Tran are heartbroken over the loss of their brother, Bao Tran.
Two teenagers – Tran and 17-year-old Nick Sy – are dead after a violent crash on Roosevelt Boulevard, police say. The crash happened near Roosevelt Boulevard and Devereaux Avenue in Oxford Circle a little before 11 p.m. Saturday.
"I loved him," Bao's sister Cindy said with tears streaming down her face.
"He's like the glue to every family. He likes to make everybody feel like their safe, happy, it just felt like a nightmare, like it's not real," said Long Tran, Bao's brother.
Police say Bao, 19, was behind the wheel of a white Nissan when it lost control, hit another vehicle, side swiped a tree and slammed into a home on one of Philadelphia's most dangerous roads.
A female passenger in the second car was taken to a hospital in stable condition, but Tran and Sy died at the scene.
Residents of the home were inside but none were injured.
Police say they're investigating and trying to recover video of the area to determine exactly what happened but believe speed is considered to be a factor.
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Friends of Sy added to a growing memorial Sunday.
"Most loving person in the world," said one of the victim's friends.
"I'd like him to be remembered as the funniest guy and loving guy you can meet," added another.
A vigil Sunday evening capped a day of raw emotion.
"It hurts for both of them to go like this," Nemo Ploeun said. "You can't do much but mourn and live for them now."
Neighbors also paid their respects, shaken once again by a fatality on the boulevard – known as one of the most dangerous roads in America.
Nearly two dozen people died on the Roosevelt Boulevard last year, and 139 people have been killed or seriously injured and nearly 2,700 crashes have been reported in a four-year period.
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"There's always accidents on the boulevard," Yolanda Tucker said. "There's just a girl who died up the street last year this time."
"How many people is it going to take going up and down the Boulevard to get killed before they start taking notice?" eyewitness Benjamin Wright said.
In efforts to make the road a little safer, Philadelphia City Council plans to install speed cameras by the end of this year.
CBS3's Crystal Cranmore, Matt Petrillo and Joe Holden contributed to his report.
