Monday, October 04, 2010
Crash Victim Is Eulogized
Before 13-year-old Sarah Erdan was killed in a violent minivan crash on Sunday, she had been one of 22 students admitted to an exclusive all-girl's Jewish High School on Long Island.
The incoming freshman had made an impression on the administrators of Shalhevet High School For Girls as "a sweet and bright girl who had Jewish values," said Headmaster Rabbi Zev Friedman.
On Monday, Mr. Friedman, his staff and the 55 students of the small school were among the dozens who gathered to mourn at Sarah's funeral in Brooklyn.
She was the only fatality when an unlicensed 16-year-old driver lost control of a minivan after speeding on a single-lane road in Midwood and colliding with a parked car, a tree and a single-family home, authorities said.
Sarah's 16-year-old brother, Yosif Erdan, who was also a passenger in the 2001 Honda minivan, suffered minor injuries in accident, police said.
The driver, Eric Hakimisefat, a friend of the Erdan family, was arrested on charges of criminally negligent homicide, speeding, reckless driving and unlicensed operation of a vehicle.
He posted the $10,000 bail set after his arraignment in Brooklyn Supreme Court Monday and was able to attend Sarah's funeral, though he kept a low profile, his attorney, Benjamin Lieberman, said.
Mr. Friedman said he canceled classes at Shalhevet so he could offer condolences to the Erdan family and so the student body could pay its respects.
He said Sarah was looking forward to joining the debate team and playing basketball with her peers.
"She had tremendous potential, and could have lived up to all of that," Mr. Friedman said. "It's a tremendous loss."
Sarah's potential was the unifying theme of the eulogies delivered at Shomrei Hadas Chapels, where teachers and rabbis from her younger days spoke to a room full of mourners, many of whom were forced to stand because all the seats had been filled at the funeral home.
Rabbi Abraham Kelman, the dean of Bnos Leah Prospect Park Yeshiva Elementary school where Sarah spent her primary years, remembered her as "mature beyond the level of her class."
"It's very hard, very hard to understand and deal with," he said. "She was a student of ours for many years. She was in many ways a model and example."
A law-enforcement source with knowledge of the case said Sarah was not wearing a seatbelt when Mr. Hakimisefat crashed after traveling down East 23rd Street at speeds exceeding 60 miles per hour at about 2 p.m. Sunday. The speed limit along the residential street is 30 miles per hour.
According to court papers, Sarah died of a severe injury as a result of the crash.
Mr. Hakimisefat had a learner's permit that does not allow him to drive without the supervision of a licensed driver who is 21 or older, the court papers said.
It hasn't been determined who owns the vehicle or why Sarah and her brother were in the minivan with the driver.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704631504575532510931766070.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
The incoming freshman had made an impression on the administrators of Shalhevet High School For Girls as "a sweet and bright girl who had Jewish values," said Headmaster Rabbi Zev Friedman.
On Monday, Mr. Friedman, his staff and the 55 students of the small school were among the dozens who gathered to mourn at Sarah's funeral in Brooklyn.
She was the only fatality when an unlicensed 16-year-old driver lost control of a minivan after speeding on a single-lane road in Midwood and colliding with a parked car, a tree and a single-family home, authorities said.
Sarah's 16-year-old brother, Yosif Erdan, who was also a passenger in the 2001 Honda minivan, suffered minor injuries in accident, police said.
The driver, Eric Hakimisefat, a friend of the Erdan family, was arrested on charges of criminally negligent homicide, speeding, reckless driving and unlicensed operation of a vehicle.
He posted the $10,000 bail set after his arraignment in Brooklyn Supreme Court Monday and was able to attend Sarah's funeral, though he kept a low profile, his attorney, Benjamin Lieberman, said.
Mr. Friedman said he canceled classes at Shalhevet so he could offer condolences to the Erdan family and so the student body could pay its respects.
He said Sarah was looking forward to joining the debate team and playing basketball with her peers.
"She had tremendous potential, and could have lived up to all of that," Mr. Friedman said. "It's a tremendous loss."
Sarah's potential was the unifying theme of the eulogies delivered at Shomrei Hadas Chapels, where teachers and rabbis from her younger days spoke to a room full of mourners, many of whom were forced to stand because all the seats had been filled at the funeral home.
Rabbi Abraham Kelman, the dean of Bnos Leah Prospect Park Yeshiva Elementary school where Sarah spent her primary years, remembered her as "mature beyond the level of her class."
"It's very hard, very hard to understand and deal with," he said. "She was a student of ours for many years. She was in many ways a model and example."
A law-enforcement source with knowledge of the case said Sarah was not wearing a seatbelt when Mr. Hakimisefat crashed after traveling down East 23rd Street at speeds exceeding 60 miles per hour at about 2 p.m. Sunday. The speed limit along the residential street is 30 miles per hour.
According to court papers, Sarah died of a severe injury as a result of the crash.
Mr. Hakimisefat had a learner's permit that does not allow him to drive without the supervision of a licensed driver who is 21 or older, the court papers said.
It hasn't been determined who owns the vehicle or why Sarah and her brother were in the minivan with the driver.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704631504575532510931766070.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
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