4 THE QUEENS COURIER • OCTOBER 24, 2013 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com SEARCH CONTINUES FOR AVONTE BY ANGY ALTAMIRANO [email protected] The search continues for Avonte Oquendo, the autistic teen last seen leaving his Long Island City school nearly three weeks ago. Avonte, 14, was last seen at the Center Boulevard School at 1-50 51st Avenue in Long Island City around 12:38 p.m. on Friday, October 4. There have been confl icting reports on how the Rego Park teen, who cannot verbally communicate and is supposed to be supervised at all times, managed to leave the school, said the family’s attorney, David Perecman. According to Avonte’s grandmother, the security guard appointed to the front of the school said she had seen Avonte running towards the door, asked him where he was going and after he did not respond, she just allowed him to leave because she did not know he was a special needs student. Yet, according to Perecman, no student at the school is allowed to leave the property until dismissal. Avonte’s mother, Vanessa Fontaine, previously told The Courier the school “failed her” when they took close to an hour to inform her that her son had gone missing. However, according to reports, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the school safety offi - cer did nothing wrong. Earlier this week Kelly also reportedly said the NYPD may have to scale back its search for the teen. The NYPD has had more than 100 offi cers searching the streets daily for the boy, who family says loves trains, and looking for him by helicopter and with divers. The police have also been driving around in patrol cars and search vans with loudspeakers playing Avonte’s mother’s voice. Avonte’s family has also sought help from the Texas Equusearch Mounted Search and Recovery Team, a group of volunteers that have assisted in fi nding numerous missing people throughout the country. The team traveled to the site on October 18 to “evaluate the situation” to determine if they have the resources to help search for Avonte. The family has fi led a notice of claim to sue the City of New York for $25 million, citing claims of negligence against both the Department of Education and the Special Security Division which provide the security agents for the school. Since his disappearance, the reward has increased to $89,500. Reverend Al Sharpton held a community outreach rally on Saturday, October 19 at the National Action Network headquarters in Manhattan where members of the organization pledged to canvas the city in search of Avonte. Oquendo was last wearing a gray striped shirt, black jeans and black sneakers. He is 5’3” tall and weighs 125 pounds. The NYPD has released a new photo of Avonte together with an image of the shirt he was wearing the day he went missing. Visit www.queenscourier. com to see the updated photo. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS. The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website or can text their tips to CRIMES (274637), then enter TIP577. All calls are strictly confi dential. GOOD SAMARITAN THE COURIER/Photo by Liam La Guerre Ozone Park resident Alex Mitchell saved a driver from a burning vehicle following a crash on the Long Island Expressway. Photo Courtesy NYPD The NYPD has released a new photo of Avonte Oquendo, 14, who was last seen leaving the Center Boulevard School in Long Island City on Friday, October 4. RESCUES MAN AFTER CAR CRASH BY LIAM LA GUERRE [email protected] Saving a drunken driver from a burning car crash was literally all in a day’s work for one Ozone Park resident. Fuel truck driver Alex Mitchell, 37, was on his shift when he stopped to rescue an allegedly intoxicated John Boisseau, who slammed his car into a tree near Exit 55 on the Long Island Expressway around 2 a.m. on Friday, October 19, police said. And following the crash, the good Samaritan got back in his truck and continued his 12-hour shift. “I didn’t think of my safety,” Mitchell said. “It just happened so fast.” Mitchell was heading to Holtsville in Suffolk County when he noticed the car in front of him started swerving in and out of lanes. He thought the driver was either drunk or sleepy so he tried to keep his distance, but suddenly the Chevrolet Blazer drove off the road and smashed into a tree. Mitchell stopped his truck, dialed 9-1-1, and ran towards the SUV because he feared it would explode since it caught on fi re. “Regardless of whether he was intoxicated… he is still a person and he was in need of help,” Mitchell said. At fi rst Mitchell couldn’t fi nd Boisseau and thought he had been hurled out the vehicle, but then he heard something coming from under the car. “I’m screaming ‘Hello is everybody alright,’” Mitchell said. “It was dark, smoke everywhere and then he said ‘I’m here, I’m here.’” Boisseau’s leg was stuck under the car, but Mitchell pulled him out with one hand while he was on the phone with 9-1-1. Shortly after, the car was engulfed in fl ames, which were later extinguished by the East Brentwood Fire Department. Boisseau was taken to Southside Hospital in Bay Shore where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and charged with driving while intoxicated by Suffolk County Police. Mitchell, who was in the United States Air Force from 1998-2002, called his boss to explain there was an accident and he would be late, but said nothing of his heroism. “I’m proud. It feels good to do something for somebody,” Mitchell said. “But the best feeling is my friends and family expressing how proud they are.”
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