Man arraigned after 7-year-old boy killed out-of-control car in Bronx; bond set

PELHAM BAY (WABC) -- A 73-year-old man appeared in court Friday night after the car he was driving crashed into a Bronx restaurant, striking a father and his two children, killing one of them.

Kwasi Oduro, 73, of Bronx, is charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death among other offenses. He is being held on $10,000 cash bond. The case has been adjourned until June 10.

"He's a good guy," a family member of the suspect said. Family members of the suspect left the courthouse promising to pay the bond set.

The car jumped the curb on Westchester Avenue near Colonial Avenue in the Pelham Bay section and crashed into the front of Kennedy's Chicken and Sandwiches restaurant around 5:45 p.m. on Thursday.

"It was really a bad situation for the family. Yeah, the car went all the way in, all the way in out and just left," Giovanni Martinez, an eyewitness, said.

The driver then allegedly threw the car into reverse, hitting a car parked on Westchester Avenue and shearing off its bumper, as he drove off. The two men chased the car on foot, and two traffic enforcement officers saw that and stopped the vehicle. They held him until police could arrive.

Ethan Villavicencio, 7, died from his injuries shortly after being rushed to the hospital. Ethan's 5-year-old sister and father were taken to Jacobi Hospital in stable condition.

"He's inside the store. He didn't expect the car to just ram inside the store where you are at. Next thing you know - like I say, just 7 years old," his uncle Jose Llamas said.

"Screams, cries, the little boy was all bloody, wanted his mommy of course," said Sheila Clark, an eyewitness. "The little girl was pinned, so pedestrians, staff members, NYPD, rescue workers unbolted the table from the floor to unpin the little girl."

"We came running over here, you see the little boy on the table with glass all over him, you see the little girl crying for her mom and everybody was going crazy like what just happened," said Martinez.

"If he doesn't run I stop, but if he run I run, me and a Spanish guy we run behind him," said Shawke Elgwed, an eyewitness.

Oduro is due back in court on June 10.