A hit-and-run driver fatally struck an elderly couple on their way to church carrying canned goods for a Thanksgiving food drive in Staten Island — and then made his sister lie and say the vehicle was stolen, a source said yesterday.
Cops said Allmar Lekperic was behind the wheel Wednesday evening when Peter Sabados, 78, and his wife, Lillian, 77, were crossing New Dorp Lane at Third Street on their way to an evening Mass at Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church.
Lekperic, 26, ditched the white van about a mile and a half away from the scene, police said. He enlisted his sister’s help in misdirecting investigators, they said. The sister was not arrested, but could face charges, sources said.
Church officials said they met with Department of Transportation officials about the dangerous street just hours before the accident, but a DOT spokesman could not immediately confirm the meeting.
Parish members said the street outside the church is a raceway.
“It’s been a concern for some time,” said the Rev. Mario Ramirez. “Something needs to be done in terms of the speed of the drivers. There are times that there are a lot of people crossing.”
On Wednesday night, the deeply religious and charitable couple were carrying canned goods for the church’s holiday food drive when they were hit by the white Ford Econoline van barreling west on New Dorp Lane, sending cans rolling along the street.
A priest sprinted outside and administered last rites before an ambulance carried them off.
Peter Sabados, a retired pharmacist, was pronounced dead on arrival at Staten Island University Hospital. His wife, a retired nursing secretary from Wagner College, died yesterday morning.
The elderly grandparents had just celebrated their 46th anniversary.
“They were extremely caring people,” the couple’s son, Peter, said. “That’s the type of people they were, honest and caring.”
Parishioners said prayers for the couple when the Mass resumed.
“Thanksgiving is one of the happiest days of the year,” the Rev. Pancrose Kalist said. “But everybody was so sad. It really broke our hearts for something like this to happen.”
Parishioners shared prayers and said 10 Hail Marys. A special memorial is scheduled Monday.
Lekperic, who turned himself in yesterday, was charged with leaving the scene of an accident with fatalities and driving with a suspended license. He will be arraigned today in Staten Island.