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Hicksville teen dies after road accident
By LISA MUŅOZ DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER A teen who was riding his bike home from football practice when he was hit by a car just a few miles from his Hicksville house Wednesday evening died yesterday at the hospital. James Delaney, 14, was struck by a Lexus at the intersection of Newbridge and Elmira Roads. He was pronounced dead at Nassau University Medical Center. "He was a good son, a really good kid," a distraught Susan Delaney said of her son just after returning home with her husband from making funeral arrangements for their only son. James is survived by an older sister and a younger sister. The native Long Islander would have been a sophomore at Holy Trinity Diocesan High School in Hicksville, where he had many friends and was on the varsity wrestling team. "School was his favorite thing," his mom said. "He was going out for the football team." The school's Web site posted a message that read, "The entire Holy Trinity community mourns the loss of James Delaney [class of] '08 who was killed in a tragic auto accident." Nassau County Police homicide detectives are investigating, but say the teen's death appears to be an accident, not a crime. Police said they don't expect to arrest the driver, James Lombardo, for the accident. Lombardo, 35, of Levittown, was heading south on Newbridge Road through a green traffic light at the Elmira Road intersection, police said, when he hit James on his bike. Police had no details on the driver's condition, but Susan Delaney said she was concerned for Lombardo because she came to the accident scene and saw emergency personnel taking him away on a stretcher. Delaney and her husband spent the night with James at the hospital, where he had been listed in extremely critical condition. He died at 7:15 a.m. yesterday. Originally published on July 22, 2005 Car-bicycle crash kills Hicksville teen BY MICHAEL FRAZIER July 22, 2005 A Hicksville teenager died Thursday morning from injuries he suffered Wednesday night when he was struck by a car, Nassau police and relatives said. James Delaney, 14, who would have turned 15 on Saturday, was riding his bicycle home from football practice when the accident happened at 8:32 p.m., friends and relatives said. The force of the impact hurled Delaney into the air and onto the windshield of the 2001 Lexus, Nassau police said. Delaney had been pedaling his bike into the intersection of Newbridge and Elmira roads in Hicksville at the same time James Lombardo, 35, of Levittown, was proceeding through the green light, police said. Police said Lombardo was not charged in the crash, but investigators impounded his car to perform routine safety tests, Homicide Det. Sgt. Richard Laursen said. There was "no indication was wearing a helmet," Laursen said. Delaney was pronounced dead at 7:15 a.m. Thursday at Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow. A woman answering Lombardo's telephone Thursday said he wasn't home. Delaney's parents, James and Susan Delaney, declined to comment after returning home from making funeral arrangements Thursday afternoon. Standing across the street from the Delaney home, Robby Dieckmann, 12, was eager to talk about his buddy. Together the two searched for bugs, wrestled and played video games. "I'll just miss him being there, knowing he's across the street," Robby said. Delaney was one of three siblings and the only boy. He had two sisters, Alison, 18, and Kelly, 11. He attended Holy Trinity Diocesan High School in Hicksville, where he was on the wrestling team, neighbor Emile Phelisse said. Phelisse, 74, also said James had just joined the school's football team. "He was a heck of a nice kid," he said. Robby's father, Bob Dieckmann, described James as a skilled athlete and a well-mannered boy who was "big for his age." Despite being bigger than most kids his age, James never picked a fight and was especially nice to his friends, Robby said. "We understood each other and never argued," he said. [Member Spotlight] [News Story] [Tribute Signatures] [Obituary]
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