Fermin Arzu
NEW YORK (OCN) — It is almost a year without Fermin Arzu. In 2007 on Friday, May the 18th, a red Nissan Quest met in a accident in the Bronx. The accident, which happened between 11:00 pm and midnight, was allegedly caused by 41-year-old Fermin Arzu.
Arzu, a maintenance worker and immigrant from Honduras, was alleged to be driving impaired and on the wrong side of the road and later crashed head-on into a parked car on Hewitt Place in the Longwood section.
Arzu did not die from the accident and remained in the vehicle where he was found by 37-year-old Officer Raphael Lora who was not on duty at the time but heard the accident from his nearby home.
When Officer Lora came to investigate, he found witnesses screaming “That’s him! That’s him!” Officer Lora then went over to Arzu’s red Nissan Quest and identified himself as a police officer and requested Arzu’s paperwork.
Upon their interaction, Arzu is alledged to have moved his vehicle with Officer Lora in close proximity to the vehicle. Fearing for his safety of being pinned under the red Nissan Quest, Officer Lora is alleged to have fired his weapon multiple times at the vehicle.
Although Mr. Arzu’s blood-alcohol level was higher than the legal driving limit of 0.08 percent, many people felt his death was unjustified and was happy to learn in December 2007 that Officer Lora was being indicted in the shooting.
Sunday May 18, 2008 will mark the annivarsary of Fermin Arzu’s death. So far, there is no word if his family plans to have a memorial in his honor on the 18th or on the 26th where he was laid to rest.
