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Arrest Made In Brooklyn Hit-And-Run Crash That Left 2 Men Dead

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Brooklyn man was arrested Tuesday in connection with a fatal hit-and-run crash in Cypress Hills that left two men dead.

The crash happened just after midnight Monday near the intersection of Fulton and Chestnut streets.

Police said an Acura TL sedan was speeding eastbound on Fulton Street when it lost control, hitting 41-year-old Delman Maldonado and 56-year-old Israel Turcios after slamming into two parked cars.

Surveillance video shows the moment the two men were hit. The driver then abandoned the car and fled on foot, police said.

Efren Lanfranco-Perez, 21, of Brooklyn was charged Tuesday with leaving the scene of an accident and aggravated unlicensed operator of a motor vehicle.

Maldonado was pronounced dead at the scene. Turcios was taken to the hospital, where he was also pronounced dead.

Monday morning, Turcios's devastated son, Frank, returned to the corner where his father was killed. He described his dad as a happy man from Honduras who now leaves behind three children and seven grandchildren.

"My dad was one of a kind," he said.

Friends said the two men had just left a nearby bar owned by Turcios' brother.

"He would pay any price to see everyone happy," friend Javier Rodriquez said. "He always liked to have fun, he would spend every dollar in his pocket just to make everybody happy."

Milli Muniz had been with Maldonado since 2003. The two shared a home and raised a 12-year-old son together. Muniz went to the scene of the crime to identify Maldonado, she said it's now the challenge of her life to accept that he's gone.

"He was a good, best friend I know he was, and I'm hoping he didn't feel anything when this happened," she said, "They say you go to a better place, but you never truly believe that. But I have to believe that. I miss him and I wish he was coming home."

Lanfranco-Perez was arraigned this afternoon and held on $300,000 bail. His next court appearance is August 6.

 

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