A night out for three teens who police think may have been scrawling graffiti in Throggs Neck had a horrific ending.
Alex Seeraj, 17, was behind the wheel of his mother’s van with his friends Shaadieq Hicks, 16, and Gerald Pagan, 16, at around 3 a.m. Saturday, April 16.
Seeraj was allegedly speeding eastbound on Bruckner Boulevard, then made a quick right onto Brush, lost control of the vehicle, skidded onto the sidewalk and into a barricade which caused the car to flip over and come to a stop upside down.
Hicks and Pagan had been stopped and questioned by police earlier in the morning on suspicion of being part of a group writing graffiti along Bruckner. Both were let go due to lack of evidence, but spray paints were reportedly found in the wrecked van.
All three were taken to Jacobi Medical Center between 3:30 and 4 a.m. Pagan was treated and released the same morning. Seeraj was admitted and arrested while in the hospital. Police say he only has a learner’s permit and was using his mother’s car without her permission. He was released on Monday night.
Hicks, who attends Adlai Stevenson High School, remains in the hospital due to blunt force trauma from the accident.
Police said approximately six individuals were observed doing graffiti along Bruckner at around 2 a.m. They arrested one, while the rest of the group fled on foot.
A description of the suspects was put out, which led to the arrests of two other individuals as well as the questioning of Hicks and Pagan.
Police would not release the names of the three other individuals arrested besides Seeraj. Of the four arrested, two had prior graffiti arrests. Seeraj had four arrests in 2010, but police did not confirm if he was one of the two who had been arrested for graffiti.
All individuals arrested, as well as Hicks and Pagan, live within the 43rd Precinct. Police were not chasing them at the time of the crash.
A breathalyzer test showed that Seeraj wasn’t under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash.
