Speeding SUV kills Trini in Brooklyn

A Trinidadian school janitor was killed Thursday morning when a speeding SUV careened into a New York bus stop in Brooklyn — but another man cheated death by inches. Alphus John, 52, was waiting to take a bus home when the SUV swerved to avoid another car, flipped and struck a pole, crushing the churchgoing father of four about 11.30 am on Liberty Avenue, according to yesterday’s New York Daily News. After hitting the pole, the out-of-control vehicle flew just past the head of Carlos Rivera, who dived out of the way.

“The front tyres passed right over me and I ducked down,” said Rivera, 45. “If that pole hadn’t been there, it would’ve been both of us.” “I couldn’t walk, I was so scared,” he added. Teachers and co-workers at the St Malachy’s Church nursery school called John — lovingly known as Poppa — a devout family man who spent all his time at home, working or at church. “He was like a father to us,” said Kim Lightner, 38, a cook. “He always told me how to live the right way.” Cops said charges were pending against SUV driver Erron Williams, 28, who claimed the other driver, who fled the scene, caused the accident by stopping short in front of him.

Williams’ mother, Anita, defended her son, who lives near the accident scene. “Where is the man who did this to my son?” She asked. “I’ve got to find him.” The heartbreaking tale of death and survival unfolded as John, who had just finished his morning shift, and Rivera waited for the westbound B12 bus on Liberty Avenue near Schenck Street. Williams, a security supervisor at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in Battery Park, had just dropped off his pregnant sister for a doctor’s appointment and was heading home. The other car had stopped and was trying to turn left into an auto repair shop, but Williams could not stop his silver Acura, cops and witnesses said. “This guy was just going too fast,” said Lt Denis Magoolaghan.

Rivera watched in horror as the SUV careened into the oncoming lane of traffic, hit a fire hydrant and flew into the air. John never had a chance to move. “I don’t think he even knew what happened,” said Rivera, still shaking hours after the crash. Moments before the crash, pre-school teacher Adriane Mitchell said John stopped to talk to her students after one of them asked him a question about a plane flying overhead. “Miss Mitchell, your children are very smart,” said John, who migrated to the US several years ago “That was the last thing he said,” said Mitchell, 34. “I don’t know how to explain it to them.”