Tuesday, August 28, 2012
A paramedic who was a September 11th first responder was among two people killed last night following a head-on crash on Staten Island.
According to police, a BMW traveling north on Hylan Boulevard in Eltingville was heading towards Winchester Avenue shortly after 7 p.m. when it crossed the median and hit a Staten Island University Hospital ambulance traveling south.
The driver of the BMW, identified as Benjamin Budzaku, 20, flew out of the car upon impact and was declared dead on the scene, while the ambulance flipped on its side.
FDNY officials said the paramedic who was driving the ambulance, identified as David Restuccio, 58, was pinned inside the vehicle and then brought to SIUH, where he was declared dead.
An emergency medical worker and the patient being transported to the hospital received minor injuries and were brought to SIUH in stable condition.
"It hit the ambulance and they went head on. And all the bodies came out of the car. And they were basically laying in the street all, bad. Very bad," said one witness.
Fire officials said Restuccio had worked for the FDNY from 1981 to 2006 and retired as an EMS lieutenant.
"He was with his kids always. Always traveling, camping, going to Vermont, just moving around. Never kept them idle," said one family friend.
"It'll take a long time to process because I thought Dave was always going to be here. I'm gonna have a hard time dealing with that, that he won't be," said another family friend.
