An 80-year-old Army veteran was killed on Friday, Nov. 7, when he was struck by the driver of a stolen vehicle outside Woodward Parkway Elementary School on Long Island, authorities said. The driver fled the scene but was later taken into custody by Nassau County police.
The victim, Peter Morris of South Farmingdale, N.Y., had just attended a veterans’ recognition event at his granddaughter’s school shortly before noon, according to his family. Morris, who served during the Vietnam War, was transported to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead.
Police said the suspect, identified as 24-year-old Randy Colon of Hicksville, N.Y., crashed a 2013 Nissan Altima into Morris’ SUV before running away. A felony complaint alleges Colon admitted to stealing the Altima, which matched the description of a recently reported stolen vehicle in Suffolk County. Authorities also noted that Colon was driving without a license.
Morris was seated in the driver’s seat of his parked SUV when the collision occurred. The impact pushed his vehicle off the shoulder, across a grassy area and sidewalk, and into a parked car in the school’s lot, the complaint states.
Colon has been charged with manslaughter, leaving the scene of a fatal incident, grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property. He has pleaded not guilty and was remanded with a mandatory license suspension, according to Nicole Turso, a spokesperson for the county district attorney’s office.
The Nassau County Legal Aid Society, representing Colon, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
