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QC06202013

4 The Queens Courier • JUNE 20, 2013 for breaking news visit www.queenscourier.com FAMILY, FRIENDS MOURN 20-YEAR-OLD KILLED IN MOTORCYCLE CRASH BY MELISA CHAN mchan@queenscourier.com Hundreds gathered in spite of wind and rain to honor a 20-year-old Flushing man killed in a motorcycle crash last week. “This was one of my best friends,” said Niaz Aziz. “He was like a brother to me.” Kiyanoush Asif died June 12 when he crashed his 2005 Kawasaki motorcycle into an oncoming 2011 Honda Accord. The car was making a legal left turn at the intersection of Northern Boulevard and Murray Street, police said. Asif accelerated and struck its rear passenger side door at around 5:30 p.m., cops said. He was pronounced dead at Flushing Hospital Medical Center. The other driver remained at the scene and no criminality is suspected, police said. The death — caused by blunt trauma to the head, torso and extremities — was ruled an accident, according to the medical examiner’s office. Nearly 200 friends remembered Asif at a June 13 vigil outside Francis Lewis High School, where he graduated in 2011. Blustering winds and rain in 60 degree weather did not stop them from meeting that night to pay their respects. “He was a really smart kid, loved by everybody,” said Danny Salik, 20. “He was always smiling, always happy. There was nothing bad about this guy.” Asif was a rising junior studying biology at Hunter College. He had volunteered at Flushing Hospital, friends and family said, and was an Army Junior ROTC cadet at Francis Lewis. He also had a passion for rapping. “He was not my grandchild. He was my heart,” said Asif’s grandmother, Talat Noori. “God gave us a rose, but he was just for us to have temporarily. We still say thank you for every second, every minute of it.” Monika Friend said many former classmates came to share tales of her cousin, who kept his personal life private. One told the family Asif had once spent three periods in high school consoling an upset stranger. “We felt proud of him,” said Friend, 31. “That was our boy.” Asif bought his motorcycle about two weeks ago, though his parents begged him not to, his family and friends said. “He was strong and brave and humble,” said Aziz, 20. “He was one of the realest people I knew.” Aziz, a close friend for more than 12 years, said he got a cryptic call from the hospital through Asif’s cell phone on the day of the crash. “They said they couldn’t tell me what was wrong but needed me to go there,” he recalled. “They said he wasn’t feeling well.” He soon found out the news through Asif’s family. “I lost a part of me,” he said, adding that he returns to the site of the crash often. “These are the hardest days of my life,” Aziz continued. “We’re still over here hurting. I can’t even think straight. I can’t Photo courtesy of Facebook believe it.” Kiyanoush Asif was killed in a Flushing motorcycle crash last week. HERO COP Off-duty officer shot after coming to woman’s rescue BY MAGIE HAYES mhayes@queenscourier.com A Father’s Day celebration took an unexpected turn for one off-duty cop when he was shot in the hand while aiding a woman in distress. Officer Joseph Koch, 29, was leaving the home of his fiancee’s father on South Road in Jamaica when he saw a 10-year-old boy run out of a nearby house and shout for help. The boy claimed his mother was being assaulted inside, police said. “I heard more than one person screaming,” said Matthew Robinson, who lives a few doors down from the scene of the crime. “Then I heard the gunshots.” Koch had gone into the home and found Jose Bernazard, 40, attacking his former girlfriend and the boy’s mother, Christina Rodriguez. Bernazard, of Brooklyn, allegedly broke into Rodriguez’s home around 10 p.m. on Sunday, June 16. Once inside, Bernazard allegedly attacked Rodriguez and her son, according to District Attorney Richard Brown. Neighbor Angela Richards said Bernazard had slashed the woman across her forehead. However, this isn’t the first time Bernazard has gone after Rodriguez. In January 2012, Rodriguez was asleep in her home and awoke to find Bernazard on top of her. He allegedly choked and repeatedly punched her. After the arrest for that incident, Bernazard was released on his own recognizance and served with an order of protection, Brown said. “This neighborhood has been rough for a long time,” said Bally Patiran, a resident on the block. After Koch heard the boy’s screams for help, he entered the home with his gun drawn and Bernazard attacked, going for the gun. Three shots were fired during the struggle, one hitting Koch’s left hand and another in Bernazard’s stomach, police said. Nobody else was struck, and both men were taken to Jamaica Hospital in stable condition. Rodriguez was also taken to the hospital and treated for her head wound. Following the incident, Bernazard was charged with five counts of assault, five counts of criminal contempt, aggravated harassment, burglary, endangering the welfare of a child and resisting arrest. More charges could potentially be on the way and if convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison. Family remembers devoted father killed in his own cab BY LIAM LA GUERE He came to the U.S. in search of the American Dream, but his brutal murder has left his family living a nightmare. Nigerian cab driver Uro Orji Ama died after being stabbed in the eye with an umbrella shortly before Father’s Day weekend. Cops found Ama in his 2000 Mercury Grand Marquis after responding to a traffic accident in Brooklyn on Thursday, June 13, police said. Now his five children, ranging in age from 13 to 24, are in the midst of moving from Brooklyn to Rosedale to live with close relatives. Their mother is still in Nigeria. “There are moments where one of the children will shout, ‘Daddy! Why did this happen?’” said Chinedum Agwu, Ama’s sisterin law. A few months ago, Ama, who was 54, brought the last of his children to the U.S. in the hope of providing for a better life. Ama was known to work odd jobs even when he was in Nigeria in order to give his children a standard of living he had never known. “Everything he did was for his kids,” Agwu, 30, said. “He wanted to lay the foundation for them to grow on. Each time you called him, he was at work or going to work.” Ama was dropping off a man and a woman when the man stabbed him through the right eye with an umbrella, piercing Ama’s brain. The cab driver lost control of his car and crashed into parked vehicles. The motive for the stabbing is unknown at this time. Cops arrived at the scene and rushed Ama to Brookdale University Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, authorities said. Nearly a week after the slaying, Shamel Allen, 28, was arrested and charged with manslaughter, according to reports. Ama’s body will be sent back to Nigeria to be buried. His family is still working to schedule a wake in New York.


QC06202013
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