A hit-and-run driver accused of mowing down an elderly Staten Island couple as they carried canned goods to a Thanksgiving food drive was hauled into court today to face charges for leaving the scene of the fatal crash and driving with a suspended license.
Almir Lekperic, 26, faces up to seven years behind bars for two counts of leaving the scene of an accident that resulted in death and one count of aggravated unlicensed operation of a vehicle in the third degree.
Authorities said Lekperic’s license has been suspended a stunning 29 times – most recently in September when he failed to answer a summons.
A judge freed Lekperic on a $50,000 bond during an arraignment at Stapleton Criminal Court, where his lawyer John Murphy Jr. entered a not guilty plea.
Peter Sabados, 78, and his wife Lillian, 77, were crossing New Dorp Lane on their way to an evening Mass at Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church on Thanksgiving eve when a white van allegedly piloted by Lekperic slammed into them.
Immediately after the crash Lekperic, a home improvement contractor, ditched the van and convinced his sister, Mirsada Nikezi, to tell cops it had been stolen.
Lekperic had a change of heart on Thanksgiving morning, when he turned himself in to cops and admitted he’d been involved in the hit-and-run.
“I’m here in regards to the accident. I was in an accident earlier and I know where the van is. It’s by Wagner High School, on the corner.
It’s a white van,” Lekperic told cops, according to a criminal complaint.