The school crossing guard assigned to the East Harlem intersection where a 6-year-old boy was fatally struck by a tractor trailer yesterday never showed up for work and lied about her whereabouts, according to the NYPD. After the crash, Flavia Roman, 55, told reporters that she had briefly left the corner to use the bathroom, but now sources say she never showed up until after the crash, even though her shift was supposed to start at 7:30 a.m.
Amar Diarrassouba was killed shortly before 8 a.m. at the intersection of 117th Street and First Avenue, one block from his school. Roma now tells investigators she was not at work because she had an unspecified emergency that morning. NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly told reporters today that Roma "called in to the youth officer at the precinct and said she was on post” at 7:30 a.m. But that was allegedly a lie, and investigators say she did not show up at her post until after the damage was done.
(Amar Diarrassouba)
Meanwhile, in an ugly Twitter exchange documented on Streetsblog, a local restaurateur blamed the crash on Diarrassouba's 9-year-old brother. Community Board member Erik Mayor, owner of Milk Burger, was angered at attorney Steve Vaccaro's Tweet speculating that rejected changes to First Avenue might have saved the boy's life. Vaccaro was referring to the board's rejection of a proposal for bike lanes and pedestrian refuges on First and Second Avenues from 96th to 125th Streets.
Mayor, who opposed the changes to First Avenue, fired back at Vaccaro, "Steve you are pathetic to place blame on us. The child was being walked by his nine year old brother who did not pay attention." The truck driver, it seems, is beyond reproach. No criminality is suspected in the crash, but driver Robert Carroll Jr. was issued summonses for failure to yield to a pedestrian and failure to exercise due care. Neither the DOT nor the truck company has responded to our inquiry as to whether the truck had the legally required permit to operate on a one way residential street.
