Why don't people ever learn.

BY KEIKO MORRIS AND DENISE M. BONILLA
STAFF WRITERS; Staff writer Monte R. Young contributed to this story.

April 22, 2004


Johnnie Singh couldn't remember his car being struck. His head hit something. He blacked out and when he awoke, for an instant, the soccer coach thought he was on the playing field.

He was taken to a hospital, where a day after the accident he learned yesterday the tragic news: His two star players had died and police said the 82-year-old man who caused the crash had been driving drunk.

Nassau police said yesterday that Vernon Ketcher, of Elmont, who also died in the crash, had a blood alcohol content of .17, more than twice the legal limit. And they said his driver's license had been revoked twice before for driving while intoxicated.

Police said Ketcher was seen driving erratically for several blocks, weaving over the center line as he headed east on Hempstead Turnpike in Elmont. Witnesses said he was driving at speeds between 50 and 65 mph as he approached the intersection of Hill Avenue. There, Cynthia Aponte and her 5-year-old daughter Kelly sat in a Chevy Blazer stopped at a red light, and Singh, with his car carrying five soccer players, was slowing to a stop, police said.

Ketcher's Jeep Cherokee, his speed unbroken, smashed into the rear of Singh's minivan, pushing it into Aponte's Blazer. Ketcher was killed instantly, said Homicide Det. Lt. Dennis Farrell. Jose Hernandez, 14, who was sitting in the second row of Singh's minivan, was pronounced dead at the scene. Fermin Bravo, 13, who was sitting in the third row, was taken to Franklin Hospital Medical Center and soon after pronounced dead. Both were students at H. Frank Carey High School in Franklin Square.

Police said Ketcher's license had been revoked after arrests for driving while intoxicated in 1982 and 1994. They said Ketcher pleaded to driving while impaired in the first case, and driving while intoxicated in the second. He was fined $250 the first time, and fined $500 and sentenced to three years' probation the second time.

It was unclear yesterday how long Ketcher's license revocations lasted, but at the time of Tuesday's accident he had a valid driver's license, police said.

Ketcher's family was not at home and could not be reached for comment yesterday.

From his bed at Nassau University Medical Center yesterday, Singh recalled how a cry of pain from the back of his minivan led him back to reality.

Though he was disoriented, Singh turned his head and saw the massive damage caused by the crash.

'I saw my car on the back of another car and I said, 'Whoa, how did I get there,'' said Singh, 54, of Hollis. ''Maybe I was sleeping.' Then when I look at the back of my car I see the whole thing demolished and I saw the Jeep is at the back.'

A stunned Singh saw in the front passenger seat his son, Ryan Singh, speechless with his eyes open. From the rear he heard Eduardo 'Chico' Luna shouting, 'Help, help me, please. My foot is hurting.'

Ryan Singh and Luna, both 12, were in fair condition yesterday at South Nassau Communities Hospital. Ryan's mother, Sheri Singh, said he had back and leg pain and swelling around his eyes.

She said her son was just beginning to deal with the loss of his teammates. 'He is crying,' Sheri Singh said.

Juan Lopez, 11, of Queens, another teammate, was in satisfactory condition yesterday at Nassau University Medical Center. Cynthia and Kelly Aponte were treated there Tuesday and released.

Johnnie Singh said the soccer team was like a family to him, and the two dead boys, Hernandez and Bravo, like his own sons. Singh had devoted eight years to coaching the Elmont Rangers soccer team and said he purchased the minivan for $30,000 for the sole purpose of shuttling the boys to and from practices and games.

Fermin was co-captain with Ryan Singh and played fullback for the team in the Elmont Soccer League. Jose played forward, 'one of the best I've ever seen,' Singh said.

Singh knew he could always count on Hernandez and Bravo to execute his instructions perfectly and pull their team from behind to win. For the two teens, both immigrants from Zamora, Mexico, everything was soccer. They were there at practice rain or shine.

'When you send these guys out there to win, they make it happen,' Singh said.

On the day of the accident, Singh had been picking up the players from their homes to go to practice at a nearby field. They were preparing for the Waldbaum's Cup qualifying match against Valley Stream Revolution on Saturday. All the boys were secured in their seatbelts, he said.

'I take these boys from their home,' he said, his words trailing off. 'I don't know what to do.'

Yesterday, the flags flew at half-staff at all the school campuses of the Sewanhaka Central High School District, where Hernandez and Bravo were enrolled in the English as a Second Language program. The boys were best friends.

'Jose always wanted to be with Fermin,' said Bravo's cousin, Jesus Bravo, 18. 'They were like brothers.'

Relatives, friends and neighbors quietly filed into the boys' homes to pay their respects and remember the boys. They said Fermin emigrated two years ago, Jose last September. Their families are part of a large, close-knit community of families from Zamora who now work at Belmont Park race track.

Yesterday, in Bravo's small second-story apartment on Claridge Avenue, a steady stream of visitors tried to comfort his father, Marcario Bravo, who sat inconsolable on the couch, alternately sobbing and wailing. Other family members talked quietly about what a happy, energetic boy Bravo was and how he enjoyed living in the United States.

German Bravo, 13, said his cousin Fermin loved music and dancing. He was looking forward to going back to Mexico in December to see his grandfather and celebrate Christmas with his family.

Hernandez also was anticipating a December visit back home. Manuel Garcia, 20, his cousin, called him a devoted friend who enjoyed traditional Mexican music and spending time with his family. Garcia said Hernandez worked hard to improve his soccer skills, hoping to become a professional player one day.

'He wanted to be the best,' said Garcia. 'He wanted to play all over the world.'

The families are trying to raise money to send the boys' bodies back to Mexico for burial. George Goldstein, superintendent of Sewanhaka Central High School District, said an emergency fund has been set up at the district to accept donations.

Meanwhile, Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi spoke yesterday with John Senko, funeral director for the Hempstead Funeral Home, in Hempstead, and asked him to pick up the cost of preparing the bodies, holding the wake and shipping the bodies to Mexico. If the families consent, the funeral home agreed to Suozzi's request. Suozzi, along with Legis. David Mejias and the Rev. Allan Ramirez, said they also will pitch in to pay shipping costs.

The families have scheduled visiting hours at the Elmont Funeral Home between 5 and 9 p.m. tomorrow. The bodies of both boys, they said, will be laid out together.

Staff writer Monte R. Young contributed to this story.