By:Jerry Burke
According to Detective Sgt. Dennis Barry of the Nassau County Homicide Squad, auto mechanic Dennis Bhola, 31, was test-driving a 1995 Chevrolet Impala, heading northbound on Franklin Avenue toward his place of employment, Pro Auto, at 6:25 p.m.
At the same time, Barry said, Franklin Square resident Natalie Susan Oxman, 52, was driving her 1996 Toyota sedan southbound on Franklin and attempting to make a left turn onto Fenworth, only a few blocks from her home.
At that point, Barry said, the cars collided. The crash caused Bhola's Impala to veer right, directly into the path of two pedestrians trying to cross Fenworth from the north side of the street. The Impala struck the two men and then came to a crashing halt in the side window of Jayson Drugs on Franklin Avenue. The store was closed at the time of the accident.
Police said that both Jose Acosta, 30, of Hempstead and Santos Juarez, 36, of Jamaica were critically injured by the impact. Both were rushed to Winthorp University Hospital in Mineola. Staff physician Dr. Victor Cruz pronounced Acosta dead at 6:59 p.m.
Juarez remains at Winthorp with severe injuries to his head, chest and legs.
Oxman was taken to Mercy Medical Center, where she was treated for a back injury and later released. Bhola, a Roosevelt resident, was not hurt.
According to Nassau County Police spokeswoman Doreen McGuinness, Acosta and Juarez were friends and coworkers who had just finished their shift at a local carwash. They were walking toward a bus stop at the time of the crash.
According to Barry, the investigation is continuing, but no charges had been filed as of Monday afternoon. Both vehicles were impounded for brake and safety checks. Barry said there was no indication that drugs or alcohol played a part in the incident, but both drivers claimed they were not at fault in the collision.
While police are still sorting out who hit whom, the report said that Bhola claimed Oxman came out of nowhere, while Oxman claimed Bhola was speeding down Franklin. Neither was available for comment.
A spokesman for Winthorp said that Juarez, a father of eight who is originally from Guatemala, was being looked after at the hospital by members of his immediate family. Acosta, a Honduras native, lived with his brothers in Hempstead but reportedly had a wife and son in Honduras. Funeral arrangements had not been finalized as of Monday.
The damage to Jayson Drugs was still being assessed by Town of Hempstead Chief Building Inspector Brain Nocella, but it was not considered a threat to the building as of Sunday.
