Ozone Park Man Struck and Killed

Hit by Driver While Coming Home From Work

A quiet Ozone Park community was saddened over the weekend by the death of local resident Donald Bryan. The 32-year-old was coming home from the Jacob Javits convention center where he worked as a security guard.

Bryan took a cab home after finishing his late shift and had just arrived at his home near Sutter Avenue and 85th Street when he was struck by a late model Lexus shortly after 1 a.m.

As Bryan began walking to his house, witnesses say a car “roared around the corner,” according to publisher reports. The vehicle was driven by 18-year-old Alfred Barcenilla Jr. After Bryan was struck he flew into the air and landed on the rear windshield of the car, shattering it.

A neighbor, Christopher Gianni, tried to perform CPR on Bryan. “I knew he was in really bad shape,” Gianni said. I was holding his hand and he told me he felt really cold. That’s when he started to slip away. A short time later, Bryan was pronounced dead at Jamaica Hospital.

Following the impact, the Lexus came to a stop after hitting a gate at the cemetery on 84th Street off Pitkin Avenue. It is there, that friends and family constructed a makeshift memorial to Donald Bryan. His brother John, told reporters that he and his brother were really close. “We always enjoyed laughing together,” said John. My world is turned upside down right now.” John Bryan said he wasn’t angry with Barcenilla, he felt pity for him instead, having taken a life.

The 18-year-old driver was not hurt in the accident. He was tested for alcohol but was not charged. Barcenilla graduated from St. Francis Preparatory School last year. According to published reports his father, Alfred Barcenilla Sr., said “He’s going to have this nightmare for the rest of his life,”

One couple at the scene said they didn’t know the victim or the driver, but they lived across the street. “We were coming home from a wedding and just pulled into the driveway. Everything happened so quickly,” said the neighbors. “Both of these families will be in so much pain.”