‘He was going to make a house over there’: NYC car crash victim had plans to join girlfriend, 1-year-old daughter for Dominican Republic getaway
A young Brooklyn dad, after collecting a $70,000 settlement from a three-year-old car accident, planned a Dominican Republic vacation with his girlfriend and their baby daughter — only to die in a freak auto wreck.
“His flight was yesterday,” the brother of victim Alexander Ulloa-Toribio said Monday as the victim’s family continued to mourn his Thanksgiving eve death.
The 26-year-old victim left behind a 1-year-old girl and his childhood sweetheart, according to family members, and both were awaiting his arrival in the Caribbean when he perished in a three-car wreck caused by a blown-out tire.
Ulloa-Toribio planned to stay with his family though Christmas, relatives said.
“He had a lot of plans,” said sibling Andy Polanco-Toribio, 29. “He was going to make a house over there (in the Dominican Republic), and said he was going to help my mother make a house too.”
Family members wearing memorial T-shirts gathered for a weekend funeral as they faced a sad future without the beloved young dad, who came to New York from the Caribbean country as an 11-year-old boy.
“Everybody loved him,” said his mom Juana Toribio, 50. “Everybody’s hurt with his death. A lot of people went to the funeral — old people, young people.”
Ulloa-Toribio was driving his Honda Odyssey through Williamsburg when a tire blew on a BMW, sending it flying into oncoming traffic.
The BMW plowed into Ulloa-Toribio’s car and another auto, sending the Odyssey careening into a tree just a few blocks from the victim’s Brooklyn home.
Ulloa-Toribio was pronounced dead at Woodhull Hospital. No charges were filed in the fatal 1:10 a.m. wreck.
Family members said the young victim was headed back to his homeland Sunday to meet with longtime girlfriend Mayelin Rodriguez and their little girl Amalia. The couple met while students at Junior High School 50 in Williamsburg and shared an apartment in the neighborhood.
Ulloa-Toribio’s mother was staying with him in Brooklyn and recalled waiting in vain for the construction worker’s safe return.
“I sent him texts saying I was already in the house and asking how long it would take him to get home,” said Juana Toribio.
According to his brother, Ulloa-Toribio had recently received a $70,000 settlement check stemming from a hit-and-run accident three years ago. Ulloa-Toribio was rear-ended by a driver who bolted the scene, but managed to take down the license plate number of the fleeing truck.
He only received the payout two months ago and began making plans for his trip back to the Dominican Republic. His girlfriend underwent surgery after traveling to his native land with their daughter.
The dead man’s cousin was outraged that no criminal charges were filed in the fatal wreck.
“The guy who did it, I think, was driving too fast,” said Evelyn Francisco. “There is a hole in the street. I think he hit it, and I think he lost control. They let him go like nothing happened.”
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