1 lucky survivor had only scratches in Qns. tragedy
AN INCREDIBLY lucky Queens man emerged in one piece from a horrific wreck that split a speeding car in two pieces — and killed two of his friends, cops said.
Driver Blake Gary, 22, and his pal James Montague, 21, died after the blue 1994 Toyota Corolla slammed into a tree and a fire hydrant just before 1 a.m. on Saturday on a quiet residential block in Hollis.
The severed front end of the Toyota flew 50 feet, crashing through a chain-link fence before landing on the lawn of a home across the street.
The car was speeding down 100th Ave. when Gary lost control near 205th Place, less than a mile from both victims’ homes, cops said.
Christopher (Bishop) Baptiste, 22, who was riding in the front passenger seat, somehow suffered only scratches to his face. He refused medical attention at the scene after escaping the crumpled vehicle, according to police.
Gary was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene, cops said.
Montague was found still in the backseat of the car and died a short time later at New YorkPresbyterian Hospital Queens.
Baptiste gave a statement to police at the crash site before visiting the homes of both dead men to break the news to their families.
“He came to the house to come get us,” said Montague’s sister Diane Hendy, 31. “He said, ‘Your brother’s on the floor.’ That’s when I told my mom, ‘We need to go.’ ”
Montague’s family raced to the hospital but arrived too late to see him alive.
“I touched his body, it was cold as ice,” said Hendy. “This can’t be real, this can’t be real.”
Police initially reported that the driver of the car had fled the scene, leaving his two dying buddies behind.
Relatives of the two dead men, speaking with the Daily News, questioned whether Gary was actually the driver, as cops later determined.
Gary’s uncle, Keith Gary, said police questioned Baptiste again when he showed up at the Gary family home.
“(Baptiste) said they were drinking,” the uncle said. “He claimed he was yelling for someone to call an ambulance and he left.”
The doomed car belonged to victim Blake Gary, who worked at Nike’s flagship Manhattan store on Fifth Ave.
“My brother just bought him the car a couple months ago,” Keith Gary said. “He wanted a car and to start driving so he could save up for another car.”
Montague’s relatives showed up at the site of the crash after he died at the hospital.
“James was about to make a big change in his life,” said his brother Keith Ford, 23. “He asked me for guidance about how to get into college. He wanted to go into criminal forensics.”
Montague’s father died of cancer in 2001 and his mother, Nicole Ford, battled recent health problems.
“I just came out of the hospital on May 25,” said the victim’s mom. And Montague told her, Ford said, “I’m going to do what I gotta do because all I got left now is you, Mom.”
“He loved to help me cook,” she added. “All he wanted to do was to be with his family.”