As police continued to search for the men who pursued 16-year-old football player Leonardo Ingrassia to his death on Staten Island, hundreds gathered to mourn the loss of a young man whose smile “lit up a room.”
Around 300 family, friends and teammates attended the standing-room-only funeral Mass at Our Lady Star of the Sea Church in the Huguenot section.
Many of Ingrassia’s football teammates wore their Lions team jackets in a show of solidarity for the talented defensive back for Monsignor Farrell HS.
“He loved his team as brothers,” said Ingrassia’s uncle, Matthew Partenope.
Ingrassia was killed after he was thrown from a car that flipped over while trying to elude another car bearing bat-wielding thugs.
The Rev. John Padulla described the young man as quiet, respectful, full of life and an ardent fan of both the Dallas Cowboys and the poppy seed bagels with which he began every day.
His “smile lit up a room, even if he didn’t say much,” Padulla said.
Cops say Ingrassia was riding in a car with four friends Sunday night when a conversation with a group of girls in another car at a red light turned ugly.
During an argument, one of the girls flicked a cigarette at the boys, who responded by mockingly tossing a dog biscuit at the women’s car, sources said.
Ingrassia and his buddies drove off, but the girls followed. Next, a group of men arrived for revenge. The mob of at least four men in their late teens or 20s smashed out the rear window of the Pontiac Bonneville bearing Ingrassia.
The boys sped off and later the Bonneville clipped another vehicle and flipped over on Lyndale Avenue. The car burst into flames just after Ingrassia’s pals managed to escape with minor injuries.
Police haven’t found the group that chased Ingrassia, but have identified the cars they were riding in – a 1999 or 2000 Pontiac Grand Am or Grand Prix, and a 2001-03 white four-door Mitsubishi Galant.
Police are asking anyone with information to call the confidential hot line at (800) 577-TIPS.
Additional reporting by Larry Celona