A 17-year-old boy who fled Ecuador to escape its violent gangs was killed when a dirt bike he was riding with a friend collided with a minivan just two blocks from his Bronx home, officials said Tuesday.
Juan Alexander Quizhpi Naranjo was riding north on Metcalf Ave. with a 14-year-old girl seated behind him when he crashed into a Honda Odyssey minivan heading east on E. 172nd St. in Soundview about 6:45 p.m. Monday, cops said.
Both teens were thrown from the gas-powered X-Motos dirt bike. Medics rushed the two victims to Jacobi Medical Center, where Juan Alexander died. The girl who was riding on the back of his dirt bike is expected to recover.
The victim’s uncle, Juan Avendano, said the boy, who is survived by his mother and a 12-year-old brother, had already been through a lot before immigrating to the Bronx about three years ago.
“In high school, in my country, people were trying to recruit him to sell drugs like marijuana and they threatened him and said that they would kill him if he didn’t do it,” Avendano said. “That’s when their mom brought the two boys here. They ran from there.”
The 42-year-old man driving the Honda Odyssey remained at the scene. No charges were immediately filed as police continued to investigate.
“He was here yesterday morning, sitting on the bed and watching TV,” his devastated mother, Blanca Naranjo, said in Spanish. ”I spoke to him last around 4 p.m.”
Avendano said he knew there was trouble when the family couldn’t reach him.
“When he didn’t return in the evening I tried calling him but he didn’t pick up,” the uncle said. “Later his mom called him many times but no one picked up. Then around 7 p.m. someone picked up his phone and asked us to come to the hospital.”
Avendano said the family did not know the girl who was hurt or whose bike the teens were riding.
“He was fond of bikes,” the uncle said.
“Even in his home country, he was riding bikes. His mother even got him one here,” said Avendano, pointing towards a storage area in their home where the bike is kept.
Avendano said both boys had received their Social Security number. Although Juan Alexander had a work permit, he was waiting until he turned 18 to look for a job.
But what the teen most wanted to do was join the military, the uncle said.
“He had spoken to someone already who was going to help him get in the U.S. Army,” Avendano said. “He was really passionate about joining the Army.”
The mother said she wants to return her son’s body to Ecuador. She said the family is trying to raise money for travel and the burial.
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