A drunken Staten Island teen ran away after smashing his speeding car into a telephone pole – leaving his bleeding pal to die in the back seat, cops said yesterday.
“Rob! Rob! Wake up!” driver Michael Cummings, 17, shouted to his dying buddy, Robert Pelicone, 22, before sprinting off toward his home, cops and eyewitnesses said.
Cummings was arrested three blocks away and charged with criminally negligent homicide, criminal mischief, leaving the scene of an accident, DWI and unauthorized use of a vehicle.
Pelicone was pronounced dead at the scene.
The accident occurred at 2 a.m. at Henderson Avenue and Elm Street in Livingston.
Cummings, who lives six blocks away, swiped his brother’s silver Dodge Neon and driver’s license so he could buy alcohol and drugs, police sources said.
He picked up Pelicone and three other pals, and they were zooming down Henderson Avenue at 60 mph when Cummings lost control of the car, mounted the curb and struck a telephone pole at Elm Street, cops and eyewitnesses said.
Cummings’ vehicle bounced off the pole, knocked down a stop sign and hit the pole again.
“It was a really big crash,” said Al Spence, 63. “The impact was so loud I thought it had to be two cars.”
Two of Cummings’ pals got out and fled immediately.
Cummings, stunned and bleeding profusely from the head, got out and yelled to Pelicone to wake up, then fled, eyewitnesses said. The fifth youth stayed with Pelicone and tried to help him.
“Only one kid stayed with the dying kid,” said one eyewitness. “He pulled him out of the car, and he was bleeding all over.”
“The driver was stupid, and I hope they put him in jail forever,” the eyewitness added. “He was doing highway speed. He was driving at least 60 miles an hour.”
Another eyewitness, Carlos Fernandez, said he arrived as the friend was pulling Pelicone out of the car.
“He was bleeding badly. His friend was yelling, ‘Get up! Get up! Don’t die!’ ” Fernandez said.
Police sources said none of the occupants were wearing seat belts.
They said Cummings admitted that he was the driver and he was drunk, but they did not report his blood-alcohol level.
Cummings’ brother, who was not identified, showed up at the accident scene later in tears.
A friend of the Pelicone family said the victim’s mother had just celebrated her birthday Saturday.
“What kind of birthday did she have?” the friend said. “Now she has to bury her son.”
A neighbor said the family is broken up because “that was their baby.”
“For Mike to crash, kill him and run away is unforgivable,” the neighbor said.