by Cris Italia and Joseph Kellard
Gaston Clarke, 20, of Long Beach was driving his 2000 Ducati motorcycle northbound on Lawson Boulevard when he hit a 2000 Mercedes Benz, driven by Martin Kahn, 79, of Woodmere at about 9:43 a.m. The impact of the accident overturned the Mercedes. Clarke was driving with a passenger, Thelma Ojedis, 20, also of Long Beach, who is currently in critical condition at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow.
"Results from our investigation have told us that the motorcycle was traveling at a high rate of speed," said Det. Sgt. George Laurson of the Nassau County Homicide Squad. He explained that the Mercedes was attempting to make a left turn onto Vermont Avenue when the motorcycle hit Kahn's vehicle.
Clarke was pronounced dead at the scene, while his passenger, Ojedis was airlifted to the hospital. Kahn was taken to South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside and treated for minor injuries.
Maria Tsaklanos, a Virginia Avenue resident for 17 years, was returning home from food shopping last Saturday and caught a glimpse of the accident as it unfolded only a few yards away from her home.
"There was this incredibly loud noise, almost like an explosion, and I looked over an saw a car flipped over and a boy and girl lying in the street," Tsaklanos said. "I called 911 and then I went over to the accident and the man in the car had crawled out of it. He was in a daze and didn't really say anything. His forehead was cut up and he had blood all over his arms and hands. And a witness who was driving behind the motorcycle said that the light was red and the motorcycle driver went right through it."
Tsaklanos said she went to church and when she got home at 11:40 a.m. the boy's body was still out there on the street and a coroner came by about 10 minutes later and they took the body.
She added that sometimes she is awakened from sleep at night because of the drag racing that takes place on Lawson Boulevard.
"They really need to do something on this road," she said. "They need to put in more traffic lights or even speed bumps on this road."
Sylvia Stiehler from Sylvia Stiehler's Power Equipment on Lawson Boulevard also said the street is dangerous for drivers.
"It's really a dangerous road," Stiehler said. "Not only do cars speed, but buses and trucks are speeding up and down here to. The police have got to enforce the speeding laws better out here."
