New York, died 18.April.2012
Accident while riding off-duty, hit by
truck
From Daniel Martinez’s wife:
On April 18 2012, the love of my life of 16 years, father to our 10
year old daughter, went to work. He was a bike messenger with the
company Mother's Messenger. He had his last drop on 72nd Street. I
was his last cell call. He went down 5th avenue.
There was a man that cops stopped on 79 street and 5th avenue by the
name of Eric West, age 22. He was stopped because he was going down
a non-commercial vehicle way. Cops gave him a ticket and let him go
on his way. He was driving a 4 ton white ford F-550 truck
holding cargo. If cops would have done their job right, they would
have known that the truck and Mr. West was not insured. The truck
belonged to Ring Power Corp Company.
The d.m.v. mail papers out to me proving this and also informed me
that Mr. West did not report the hit or death of Daniel Martinez
there for they have put it down as a hit and run. The company
allowed Mr. West to drive this truck without a commercial vehicle
license c.d.l. and this was a commercial vehicle truck.
In New York you are allowed to get your commercial vehicle license
at the age of 21 Mr. West was 22 and did not have much experience on
the road with a regular license let alone a commercial vehicle
license.
Daniel was riding his bike, alongside of the truck. Mr. West was
driving. Danny had 25 years’ experience riding his bike. He
was a road test away from having his driver’s license. He told me
once
"I ride my bike like I would drive a car. I follow the rules
of the road"
It was rush hour 6:28 pm. The sun was still out. Daniel was riding
in the bus lane, like he would always do or in the bike lanes to
avoid being too close to vehicles. There is a video of this event
that I have viewed.
Mr. West admitted on the police report that he wanted to beat the
light and instead ran the red light. That's when he hit and ran over
Daniel Martinez. Danny would never hold on to a truck. They
said he had his iPod head phones on but when I saw him in the
hospital, I took off his neck brace, and he had his head phones took
in his shirt the way he would always put them if he wasn't listening
to them, and in the video shows he was not holding on.
Danny told me once "look at that guy holding on to that truck, I'll
never do that. That guy is crazy. He must have a death wish." The
media lied. Mr. West was the one saying he was holding on but he
didn't see when he hit him. The police report didn't match up to Mr.
West’s story. The photos didn't show what Eric or the police report
said, or to what the witnesses said or to the injury's that killed
Daniel Martinez.
I was the first one the hospital called after it too. The e.m.’s
took 20 minutes to get to Daniel after the first 911 call. I was his
last cell call out and my name was tattooed on his arm, that's how
they knew to call me. They lied to me they told me that he was alive
and I had to come quick. I was the first to see him at the hospital.
He was dead. His head was clipped by the wheel. It was double wheels
in the back. His torso was run over. His left leg flatten, his legs
and arms broken, his ribs busted, his organs, all his bones was
broken. He was all broken. I could feel with my fingertips his skull
broken in pieces , cuts and bruises all over , tire tracks on his
clothing and skin the right side of his head was missing hair and a
big gash , he was bleeding his brains out his nose , ears , mouth,
eyes, and out the back of his head.
I watched and held him as he bled out on to the hospital floor. They
could not help him he had too much damage done to his whole body.
Graphic photos are on the internet. He made front page of all
major newspapers. He was only 27 years old a hard working father and
husband to me and our daughter, his only child.
Mr. West did everything wrong and Daniel Martinez did everything
right that day and Danny lost his life. All because Mr. West drove
that truck when he knew he wasn't supposed to. He murdered Daniel
Martinez, and he got off with a ticket for running the red light and
cops still let him drive off with the truck. He is still working for
the company after I not Mr. West reported the death to them 3 weeks
later. Two weeks after that Mr. West still has the truck parked
outside his home.
Cops did not cover the body that's why there are graphic pictures
out there. Cops did not question witnesses right away. Cops allowed
Mr. West to drive off with the truck after knowing he did not have
the right to drive the truck and it had blood on it. That was
evidence they let him drive off with. This man can kill again. If
cops and the company would have done their job Mr. West would not
have killed and murdered Daniel Martinez.
It was hard to bury the love of my life, Mr. West took my future
away, my daughter's future Danny's future, it was a night mare come
true, a horror movie.
Please fix his story on line on your site please.
Bicyclist, 27, killed joyriding in front of Met Museum
He grabbed onto rear of truck, police say
By Clare Trapasso AND Sarah Armaghan
New York Daily News, Wednesday, April 18, 2012
A 27-year-old Bronx bike messenger was killed in front of a
Manhattan museum as he was joyriding while holding onto the back of
a commercial truck, police said.
Daniel Martinez was riding south on Fifth Avenue near E. 83rd Street
around 6:30 p.m. when he grabbed onto the rear of a Ford F55, cops
said.
When the vehicle came to a stop at a red light, Martinez flew
underneath, just steps from the front entrance to The Metropolitan
Museum of Art, cops said.
When the light turned green, the truck moved forward, uncovering the
body of the cyclist, who lived on Walton Ave. in University
Heights.
"The man was lying lifeless," Alex Stanko, 28, of West Grove, Pa.,
said. "I didn't see him move."
"He was bleeding profusely. I've never seen anything like that in
real life."
Martinez - who left behind a 10-year-old daughter - was pronounced
dead at Lenox Hill Hospital, police and family said.
"He was a hard worker, he was a family man. He loved his daughter,"
said Martinez's cousin Jessica Bernacett, 26, of the Bronx. "It’s
sad that he's gone."
"We loved him. We're all shocked."
Martinez’s brother Nelson, 36, said "he died too young."
"He was working, trying to support his family," Nelson Martinez
said. "He's a responsible guy."
“It's just so sad and unfortunate," said the victim’s sister,
Natalie Martinez, 29.
The truck remained at the scene and no criminality is suspected,
cops said.
Cyclist Killed After Holding Onto Back Of Truck
Outside Met
Gothamist, April 19,2012
A cyclist from the Bronx was killed outside the Metropolitan
Museum of Art last evening after the pickup truck he was holding
onto stopped for a red light, sending him flying underneath. The
NYPD press office says Daniel Martinez, 27, was riding south on
Fifth Avenue while holding onto the back of a black Ford F-550
truck. According to the Daily News, he "flew off his bike" when
the truck stopped, and "when the light turned green, the truck
moved forward, uncovering" Martinez's body.
DNAinfo reports that Martinez was hit "about 6:30 p.m." and the
NYPD press office says police responded to the scene at 6:40 p.m.
Six minutes later, a Columbia student who witnessed the accident
Tweeted, "Bicyclist hit by SUV on 5th ave and 82nd. 20 minutes no
ambulance. #WTF" Included with his Tweet, the student posted a
graphic photo of the scene, which you can see here—but we warn
you, it is graphic.
An FDNY spokesman tells us they received the call at 6:38 p.m.,
but they don't have information about when EMS actually arrived at
the scene. According to the FDNY's record of the accident,
Martinez was in serious condition when he was transported to Lenox
Hill Hospital. The NYPD says he was pronounced DOA. The driver
remained at the scene and "there is no criminality suspected."
Martinez, whom the News describes as a bike messenger, leaves
behind a 10-year-old daughter. His cousintells the News, "He was a
hard worker, he was a family man. He loved his daughter. It’s sad
that he's gone."
Update 10:11 a.m.: We just spoke with a witness who saw the
aftermath of the accident. He tells us he didn't see the moment of
impact, but arrived "less than a minute" after Martinez was
struck. The man, who asked not to be identified, says he was there
before police arrived, and that by checking text messages sent
immediately following the crash, he can confirm that Martinez was
hit around 6:28 or 6:29 p.m. According to the best of his
recollection, police arrived over five minutes later, but the EMS
was not on the scene for at least 20 minutes.
"I was not under the impression the guy had expired until the
ambulance was putting him on the stretcher," the witness tells us.
"This is hard to report on for me because it's all visceral. I
thought he was alive, I thought I saw him moving or responding. I
don't know if he died on impact, I can't say for sure. People were
trying to resuscitate him before police arrived, and their son was
a witness, but the cops could not get anyone else to talk to them
about the actual crash.
"But the police didn't start interviewing potential
witnesses until 20 minutes after they showed up. So this was well
over 20 minutes after any people who saw it—and were possibly
grossed out—might have left. It was grisly. I was in shock, too.
That said, the driver was there and stayed at the scene. And I
don't want to insult the cyclist posthumously, but he wasn't
wearing a helmet, and somebody else told me he had earphones in."
We asked the witness if the Daily News' description of the
accident—that the cyclist "flew" under the truck when it stopped
at a red light—seemed plausible to him. "No," he told us. "The
body was about five feet from the west side sidewalk. Judging by
where the body was in the intersection, I don't see how that is
possible."
