The mother of a driver with a suspended license accused of being high when he fatally struck a religious leader on his way to a Bronx mosque says she had forbidden her son from getting behind the wheel.
Victor Ramos, 27, was charged with manslaughter after he allegedly plowed an Infiniti sedan into Mohammed Rahman on Castle Hill Ave. near Hermany Ave. in Castle Hill about 9 p.m. Sept. 25, cops said.
The impact sent Rahman, 67, flying through the air just around the corner from his home. He died at the scene from a massive head injury.
Ramos’ mother, Gloria Stuye, 57, said she learned her son’s license was suspended when she found a notice from the Department of Motor Vehicles in her trash about five months ago.
She doesn’t know why his license was taken away but she said she pressured him to get it fixed.
“When he threw it away in the garbage I found it,” Stye said. “I asked him, ‘What are you doing with your license? Do everything you have to do. Take a class. Pay whatever you have to pay.’ I was talking about it two weeks ago.”
Stuye said she wasn’t surprised that cops said Ramos was under the influence.
“He does drugs,” Stuye said. “He used to smoke marijuana.”
Meanwhile, mourners and well wishers packed the home where Rahman, a devout Muslim and respected member of the Bangladeshi community, lived with his wife and six of his seven children.
Relatives said the retired restaurant worker and delivery driver was on his way to the Castlehill Ideal Islamic Center, just a block away from his home, when he was struck.
Ramos, who remained at the scene, was charged with vehicular manslaughter, driving with a suspended license, operating a motor vehicle impaired by drugs and driving while intoxicated.
Ramos was released on $45,000 bond and is due back on court Oct. 18, records show.
“He doesn’t even have a car,” his mother said. “I don’t know who that car belonged to. I know he doesn’t have a car.”
Video shows Rahman standing in a bike lane waiting for several cars to pass when he’s struck by the speeding driver.
“”When I saw the video, I didn’t believe it,” said Saidur Rahman, 33, the victim’s youngest son. “You can see his body fly up in the air and spin.”
He said people in the neighborhood stayed near the crash site for hours after Rahman’s death.
“He’s a community leader,” the son said. “Everybody knows him. There was a whole group there waiting three hours in the cold until the body left. Even then they didn’t leave. They stayed there then came to my house for another few hours. It shows how much of an impact he made in the community.”
He is disgusted with the driver.
‘You killed my dad,” he said. “Your actions took someone who was loved by me and my family, by the community.”
The grieving son noted that devout Muslims like his father don’t drink alcohol or do drugs.
“It’s forbidden and there’s a reason why” he said. “Look at (the driver’s) actions.”
Family members said Rahman looked out for immigrants coming into the community.
“He took care of the mosque, he took care of older people in the mosque,” said a nephew, Nazim. “He would help new people coming to this country. He’d been here over 30 years so he would help them.”
Rahim Uddin, 20, Rahman’s grandson, said Rahman started him on a spiritual path.
“When I was younger he taught me the ways of our culture and our religion,” Uddin said. “He taught me how to read our holy book. Without him I wouldn’t be able to read the Qur’an. I wouldn’t be motivated. It’s because of him that I’m really faithful.”
