Darcel Clark: Probation for Driver Who Killed Child Inside Bronx Restaurant and Fled Scene
Kwasi Oduro killed Ethan Villavicencio, 7, and injured the boy’s little sister and father as they ate in a sandwich shop. Oduro got no jail time and may drive again in five years.
A motorist who drove into a Bronx restaurant, ran over and killed a 7-year-old boy, and fled the scene was sentenced to probation pursuant to a plea agreement with District Attorney Darcel Clark.
Ethan Villavicencio was eating ice cream with his father and 5-year-old sister at a sandwich shop at 3275 Westchester Avenue in Pelham Bay on the afternoon of June 4, 2015, when Kwasi Oduro backed his Mercedes SUV through the front of the building.
“It was a bad scene,” witness Victor Robles told the Post. “I saw the little boy on the ground yelling for his mother. His father was banged up, as was his little daughter.”
“There was a crater where the boy hit the wall,” another witness told the Daily News. “The father was a bloody mess. He was covered with blood and he was trying to tend to his son. The blood from his face was dripping down on the boy. It was heartbreaking.”
Ethan died at Jacobi Medical Center. His sister and father were hospitalized.
Police said Oduro, then 73, was attempting to park when he accelerated across the sidewalk. News 12 posted video of him backing into the building, then seconds later punching the gas to escape as people on the street scrambled out of his path. Oduro was stopped by witnesses and traffic enforcement agents two blocks away.
Oduro was charged by Clark’s predecessor Robert Johnson with one class D felony count and two misdemeanor counts of leaving the scene of an accident with injury. Johnson did not charge Oduro for the act of killing Ethan and injuring his family members.
Four months after the crash, Oduro went to court to get his SUV back from authorities.
Class D felonies carry penalties ranging from probation to seven years in prison. After pleading guilty to leaving the scene, last September Oduro was sentenced to five years probation, during which time he is not legally permitted to drive.
Ethan’s family was not satisfied with the outcome of the case. “I’m not happy about it,” Natasha Villavicencio, Ethan’s mother, told WCBS. “But what can I do?”
Kwasi Oduro will be 80 years old when he becomes eligible to regain his driving privileges.
