Community members and elected officials came out recently to show support for the victim of a savage beating in Jackson Heights.
City Councilmembers Daniel Dromm and Julissa Ferreras, Assemblymember Michael Den Dekker, and City Comptroller John Liu hosted a fundraiser for Victor Mejia de los Santos, a pizza delivery person for Due Franky’s Pizzeria, who was viciously attacked by two men after being set up for a robbery on Friday, November 5.
“It is a personal thing for me,” Dromm said. “The man delivered pizza to me.”
Nearly 75 concerned neighbors attended or dropped by the Jewish Community Center of Jackson Heights on Sunday, November 14 to make donations. By the end of the event, close to $3,000 was raised for the Victor Mejia Fund.
“They were just people who were concerned and were interested in helping the family,” Dromm said.
Ferreras established a fund to help the Corona resident and his family. The Victor Mejia Fund has been established at TD Bank to pay for Victor’s medical expenses and lost income.
“My office established a fund to benefit Mr. Mejia because I was concerned about how his wife would manage to pay his steep medical bills,” Ferreras said. “We are a community that cares deeply about each other, and when bad things happen we come together in mutual aid and support.”
De los Santos, a 28-year-old Mexican immigrant, suffered a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain after Jorge Paret, 28, and Anardo Battista, 23, ordered a pizza as a trick and then allegedly attacked him with a baseball bat as he walked on 75th Street in Jackson Heights, police said. They allegedly beat him unconscious before stealing his $1,000 motorized scooter. The suspects were charged with attempted murder and robbery.
“When I heard what happened to him, it was horrible,” Dromm said. “Here is a man who is working hard to get his American dream and they stole that from him.”
With his income, de los Santos provided financial support for his 22 year old wife Candelaria Rodriguez, who lives here, as well as his elderly mother and sister back in Mexico. He remains in critical condition at Elmhurst Hospital and already has undergone two brain surgeries.
“My deepest sympathy goes out to Mr. Mejia’s wife, and I am praying for his recovery,” Ferreras said.
Anyone wishing to contribute can stop by any TD Bank branch and make a check or cash deposit to the Victor Mejia Fund (account number: 4249506431).
