By Sadef Kully
A Rosedale resident has been charged with assault, driving without a license and several other counts after allegedly hitting a 6-year-old boy leaving a stopped school bus and then fleeing the scene, the Queens district attorney said.
“There is no place in the world that a person needs to rush to when one is confronted with a stopped school bus filled with young children. In this case, a precious few minutes could have prevented a young child from being seriously injured. The defendant now faces felony assault and other charges,” DA Richard Brown said.
The 47-year-old Rosedale resident, Garfield Myrie, of 149th Road was arraigned last Friday before Queens Criminal Court Judge John Zoll on charges of second-degree assault, leaving the scene of an incident without reporting/serious injury, reckless endangerment, endangering the welfare of a child, reckless driving, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and obedience to and required traffic-control devices, according to the DA’s office.
According to the criminal complaint, Vincente Estremera was getting off a stopped school bus at the intersection of 227th Street and 199th Avenue Dec. 3. The bus stop sign was displayed and lights were flashing. Vincente’s mother, Laurie Harris, alleged that she saw a tan Toyota Avalon go around the stopped school bus and strike her son on the right side of his body, the complaint said.
Myrie, the driver, got out of the vehicle, picked up Vincente in his arms and said, “He looks OK, but I can bring him to my doctor,” according to the complaint. Harris asked Myrie to put her son down, which Myrie did, and allegedly returned to his vehicle and fled the scene without reporting the incident, the court papers said.
Shortly thereafter, Vincente was taken to a Queens hospital, where he was treated for a broken femur that required surgical plates and screws.
A review of Department of Motor Vehicles records revealed that Myrie’s license to operate a motor vehicle was suspended on three or more occasions, the last date being Jan. 27, 2014.
Myrie could face up to seven years in prison if convicted and was ordered held on $25,000 bail. He was scheduled to return to court on Feb. 13.
