I.P. deli worker fundraiser

Island Park residents are rallying around the family of the victim of a car accident who worked at the Fruit Warehouse Deli at 33 Saratoga Blvd.

According to Nassau County Police two cars struck Miquel Vasquez Guillen, 60, of Hempstead on Nov. 3, as he ran across Washington Street at Burr Avenue at 7:05 a.m. in Hempstead Village.

According to his nephew, Junior, who also works at the deli, Guillen leaves behind a wife and four children in El Salvador. Residents have set up a collection in the store to send the body back to his home.

Vasquez was struck by Town of Hempstead spokesman Michael Deery, who was driving a Jeep belonging to the town, and then struck again by Jose Nelson Cruz, 29, of Amityville who was driving a 1991 Dodge Van. Deery stayed at the scene and cooperated with police. He was not charged.

Police say Cruz, an unlicensed driver, fled the scene.

Cruz was arrested and later arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead on charges of being an unlicensed driver and leaving the scene of an accident. Bail was set at $100,000.

Phone calls to attorney Xavier Palacios, who is representing Cruz, were not returned.