A college student died on Sunday after he fell off his motorcycle and was run over by an unlicensed driver in New York City – six years after his father was killed in a similar accident.
Moises Larriu, from Connecticut, was riding his 2012 Yamaha on the FDR Drive with a group of other motorcyclists when he lost control and fell onto the road near Clinton Street on the Lower East Side at around 12.45am, police said.
He was then struck by an unlicensed driver of a 2008 Infiniti.
Authorities said he suffered fatal trauma to his head and body and died at the scene.
Larriu’s father, who was also called Moises Larriu, was killed in a similar way at the age of 50 in October 2013.
Moises Larriu Jr. (left) and Moises Larriu Snr (right) were both killed in tragic motorcycle accidents
He was riding a moped on a Connecticut road when a drunk driver plowed into him.
His son rode a motorcycle to stay connected to his dad, his sisters told the Daily News.
‘That was his way to keep close to him,’ said Sabrina Lopez.
She added that the elder Larriu introduced his son to miniature motorcycles at age three.
‘It was their bond,’ Lopez said.
Another sister, Kristina Lopez, told the Daily News that her brother ‘died doing what he loved.’
The sisters told the outlet that he was the ‘golden child’ in the family.
‘He was a straight-A student and he loved mixed martial arts and boxing,’ Kristina Lopez, who became Larriu’s guardian after his father’s death, said.
She added that he studied last year at the University of Connecticut before transferring to a local community college to study marine biology.
‘I’m in shock and awe. I never expected this,’ said Martin Minnella, the family’s lawyer.
Moises Larriu, right, with his father, who was also named Moises Larriu, in an undated photo. Both father and son died in motorcycle accidents six years apart
An undated family photo shows the younger Larriu with his parents. His father died in October 2013, on the second anniversary of his mother’s death from breast cancer
‘It’s one tragedy after another. It’s unfortunate people are driving around with no license… There is a lot of irony involved.’
The younger Larriu’s father died on the second anniversary of his mother Vivian’s death from breast cancer.
The unlicensed Infiniti driver, Gamal Ibrahim, 20, of the Upper West Side, who slammed into the younger Larriu, was charged with aggravated driving without a license, authorities said.
Ibrahim was arraigned Sunday night and released on his own recognizance, the Daily News reported.
The younger Larriu, 20, died on Sunday after he fell off his motorcycle and was run over by an unlicensed driver in New York City
The drunk driver who plowed into the elder Larriu, Ryan Scalise, on Route 10 in Cheshire, Connecticut, in 2013, was sentenced to five years behind bars for second-degree manslaughter with a motor vehicle.
Scalise was served 15 beers in two and a half hours at a Connecticut bar ahead of the crash, according to reports at the time.
His son was 15 when Scalise was sentenced in September 2014.
He was given a chance to tell the court how he felt when he found out about his father’s death, but he could barely start talking before his emotions got the better of him, according to a report in the Waterbury Republican-American.
‘Waking up,’ he said softly, before he started shaking with anger.
Unable to go on, he headed into another room, where he was spotted punching a wall and screaming, the paper said.
The younger Larriu ‘was an avid animal lover and enjoyed writing and singing music, rapping and performing,’ according to an obituary on Eastside Memorial.
‘He loved to ride anything with wheels and was always happiest while spending time with his friends and family.’
He is survived by three siblings and ‘many aunts and uncles’.
Funeral services will be held on Friday in Waterbury, Connecticut.