A 12-year-old boy whose mother is serving overseas in the military was killed yesterday on his bike after he tried to hitch a ride on the back of a refrigerated truck in Queens.
Witnesses said Elija Wrancher and two friends grabbed on to the back of the truck at the corner of 130th Avenue and Springfield Boulevard in Springfield Gardens.
Elija lost his grip and fell beneath the truck’s wheels as it moved through the intersection.
“I saw the whole thing happen,” said Kenneth Milano, 14, who was also on a bike but did not try to hook up with the truck. “My heart stopped.” said the horrified youngster. “I’ve never seen something like that.”
“It’s so strange. The other day, he loaned me a video game and now I have nobody to give it back to.”
Truck driver Hector Beltram of New Jersey said he heard a thump and looked out his side mirror to see what had happened.
“I hadn’t even gone 10 feet,” said Beltram, trying to hold back tears.
He stopped the truck, ran out and called 911 when he saw Elija’s body.
“I went crazy,” he said. “I’m going to have to live with this for the rest of my life.”
Anna Carrington was riding behind Beltram’s truck and saw the boys hook on.
“I told my friend to change lanes because I thought we would hit one of them,” she said.
“It just keeps replaying over and over in my mind.”
With the boy’s body lying just feet away beneath a white sheet, Carrington put her hand on Beltram’s shoulder and tried to comfort him. “It’s not your fault,” she said, her voice shaking.
“It was just kids doing stupid things.”
Neighbors said that Elija’s mother is stationed in South Korea. She was flying home last night. Retired IS 59 teacher Barbara Code, who lives nearby, said, “Kids do daredevil things. But we can’t afford to lose another child to this type of foolishness.”