A firefighter called when a teenager was hit by a car and injured — only to make the startling discovery that it was his 14-year-old daughter who was struck and in need of medical attention — confronted the man who allegedly chased the girl in to traffic.
‘Hey Kevin, that was my 14-year-old daughter you attacked’ the emotional and distraught dad told the alleged attacker, Kevin Ramtahal, 23, when they came face face in Queens criminal court Monday, reports the New York Post.
‘Remember those words’ Wilks told a wide-eyed Ramtahal.
New York firefighter Omar Wilks, called when a teenager was hit by a car and injured — only to make the startling discovery that it was his 14-year-old daughter Amara who was struck and in need of medical attention — confronted the man who allegedly chased the girl in to traffic
‘Hey Kevin, that was my 14-year-old daughter you attacked’ the emotional and distraught dad (pictured) old the alleged attacker, Kevin Ramtahal, 23, when they came face face in Queens criminal court Monday
Wilks recalled going face-to-face with a wide-eyed Kevin Ramtahal, 23, in Queens criminal court Monday and told him to ‘remember’ his words over the December 6 incident which left his daughter critically hurt
Wilks had come to see Ramtahal make his appearance in court over the December 6 morning incident that left his daughter Amara critically hurt, and which he responded to as a member of the FDNY’s Engine Company 294 in Queens.
”Daddy am I going to die?’ That’s what my daughter asked me”, Wilks told Ramtahal before the distraught dad was led out of the courtroom, where he spoke with reporters.
‘My daughter… she was on the brink of death, the day she was attacked by this criminal. I’m seeking justice for my daughter,’ the dad, appearing to exercise restraint over his outrage as he spoke to different news outlets outside the court.
The dad recalled how his daughter got hurt.
She was on her way to school about 7:30 a.m. and walked passed Ramtahal, who yelled at her, ‘I’m coming for you!’ causing her to run into traffic where she was struck down by a car and suffered serious injuries to her leg, including bone fractures.
Her dad and other firefighters responded to the scene to discover it was Wilks’ daughter.
Determined to find who was responsible, and acting on an anonymous tip he got on Facebook, the father led cops to Ramtahal’s home.
Wilks told the Post he was in his daughter’s hospital room on Tuesday when multiple leads started coming in, including the Facebook tip.
‘I told my daughter, ‘I’m going to keep my word and catch Kevin even if I have to do it myself”, Wilks told The Post.
Police apprehended the suspect first, working off the dad’s information.
His daughter, meanwhile, was left in recovery, ’emotionally devastated’, he said, and in ‘enormous physical pain.’
Amara Wilks, 14.was left in recovery, ’emotionally devastated’, he said, and in ‘enormous physical pain’.
Amara Wilks’ leg, her father said, required surgery, screws and the installation of a pipe over the bone to help it heal from the injuries she suffered on December 6 when she was chased into traffic and struck by a car
Her leg, he said, required surgery, screws and the installation of a pipe over the bone to help it heal from the injuries she suffered.
Ramtahal, who was held on on $2,500 bail, faces charges of endangering the welfare of a child and reckless endangerment.
Not good enough, says Wilks, who wants the charges upgraded to keep the suspect jailed when new bail reforms go into effect on January 1.
A new law will allow defendants of lower-level and non-violent crimes to be released without having to post jail. Its intentions are to keep defendants out of jail before going to trial, which can take month and in some cases years.
Wilks called Melinda Katz, the Queens District Attorney-elect, to ‘hold this criminal accountable with violent felony charges’, he told reporters outside the courthouse.
‘There is no reason he should be on the street on Jan. 1 after attacking a little girl.’
As for his reaction to Ramtahal in the court, Wilks admitted that he was ‘angry’ and had to restrain himself.
‘I felt like leaping over the table and grabbing him up as a father but out of respect for the court, I maintained discipline and made it clear to him that I am determined to get justice’, he told the Post.
‘I will get justice’.
New York firefighter Omar Wilks pictured outside Queens criminal court where he confronted the man who was alleged to have chased his daughter into traffic on December 6 when she was struck and hurt by a car insists, ‘I will get justice’.