The driver of the speeding sports car who killed an elderly Queens man while fleeing a cop turned himself in yesterday, police said.
Royce Quigua, 30, who has a record of two previous assault arrests, surrendered at the 114th Precinct station house in Astoria accompanied by his lawyer.
He was charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and leaving the scene of an incident in the death of Donald Hennessy, 76, who was mowed down as he crossed the street Sunday morning on his way home from a bagel store.
An officer had stopped Quigua moments earlier for talking on his cellphone while driving.
But when the cop approached his car, Quigua allegedly took off.
“I’m happy to hear that [the driver] turned himself in,” said the victim’s son, Jim Hennessy, president of the Long Beach, L.I., city council.
“My dad was a very forgiving person. He had always said that this was the sunset of his life. I just hope he is at peace now.”
Hennessy said the family was finding it hard to comprehend that his dad died because of a cellphone.
“I have a hard time swallowing the fact that the police were chasing someone over a cellphone.
“I hope there was another reason. My father’s life was worth more than that,” he said.
Police say the officer pursuing Quigua had lost him six blocks from the accident scene and that the suspect was not being chased when the accident occurred.
Hennessy, a retired bartender, died instantly after he was hit by the speeding red Mitsubishi.
Authorities said they tracked down Quigua after the cop who had tried to stop his car heard about the hit-and-run on the radio and called in the license plate, sources said.
Devastated relatives gathered in Queens to mourn Hennessy, who had nine children and 19 grandchildren.
He had been planning to go to Long Beach Sunday afternoon to celebrate the birth of the councilman’s daughter.
“He was a really good man. If you ever needed anything you could always call on him,” his son said.
Quigua faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted, according to the Queens district attorney’s office.