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Bike messenger, 20, dies in Chelsea
collision with truck
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New York Daily News, August 11, 2006
By Jordan Lite and Ernie Naspretto
A 20-year-old bicycle messenger was crushed to death yesterday under
the wheels of a turning flatbed truck in Chelsea, cops and witnesses
said.
Moments after the 9:50 a.m. accident, witnesses said, the driver got
out of the truck, collapsed and cried, "What have I done?"
Messenger Darren Lewis had been riding south on Ninth Ave. when he
collided with the Kamco Supply Corp. truck, which was turning onto 29th
St.
"He tried to beat the truck. It just crushed him. We tried to talk to
him, but he was dead," said Louis Nelson, 47, who was driving a postal
delivery truck behind the flatbed.
Nelson said Lewis came up on the truck's "blind side" as the driver was
turning.
"The driver knew he hit something, but didn't know what," said Dan
Thomas, 34, an assistant manager at a sports rehab center who called
911.
Police would not release the driver's name but said equipment violation
summonses unrelated to the accident were issued. No criminal charges
were filed.
The driver was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital, where he passed a
Breathalyzer test.
Lewis, of Harlem, worked for Urban Express. A fellow messenger, Dwayne
Davis, 40, appeared at the scene to retrieve packages Lewis was
delivering.
"He was a young guy trying to make a living like everyone else.
Everyone in the company is feeling it," he said.
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