By Zach Patberg
Royce Quigua, 30, of 61-05 39th Ave. allegedly plowed into Donald Hennessy at high speed with a 1990 Mitsubushi Eclipse as the elderly man was crossing a street in Woodside, police said. Hennessy, a distinguished-looking 33-year resident of Woodside, rarely skipped his morning trip to the nearby deli. Sunday morning was no exception, and he purchased a newspaper, coffee and a carton of milk from Bagelmania. But his routine was brutally interrupted around 7:20 a.m. when while crossing 31st Avenue at 56th Street, he was struck by a red sports car allegedly driven by Quigua, according to police.He was killed instantly. The Mitsubishi raced on. Police found the dented vehicle about three hours later abandoned in a parking garage at 35-26 62nd St. Police said they were led to Quigua after tracing the sports car's license plate. He was charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and leaving the scene of an accident and faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted, the DA said. Quigua's bail was set at $75,000. He was scheduled to return to court March 29.Galiha Vyazova, 25, who lives next door to Hennessy's third-floor garden apartment, said her friend and mother heard someone outside screaming hysterically right after the accident.Another neighbor, Edith Sam, 52, went downstairs when she heard the commotion and saw a body lying in the road covered with a white sheet.”Human organs were lying everywhere,” said the shaken accountant.Hennessy's son, Long Beach City Council President James Hennessy, was among those at the scene grieving the loudest.Hennessy's stepdaughter, Diane D'Eufemia, described her 76-year-old stepfather as a strong and caring man whose healthy appearance shaved at least 15 years off his true age.A former bartender at Manhattan's luxurious Palace Hotel and recently retired business agent for a restaurant union, Hennessy was “the rock of his family,” which included a wife, eight children and 19 grandchildren, D'Eufemia said.”If you had a problem, he'd be the one to talk to,” she said. And he always dressed to the nines.”He would be the one who went fishing with the guys wearing a pair of dress pants and a nice shirt,” laughed D'Eufemia, who spent much of her time over at the apartment helping out her mother and Hennessy's wife, Margaret.Nearby residents and merchants say the intersection where Hennessy died has long been dangerous, despite a new traffic light that was put in two years ago.”Cars are constantly flying through there like crazy,” said Vyazova, a six-year resident.Reach reporter Zach Patberg by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 155.
