New Haven Independent

Ralphy’s Grandmother Pays Respects

by Melissa Bailey | August 19, 2008 8:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Three months after a driver killed her gradnson, Carole Celone stopped her car on Long Wharf to pay her respects at a new roadside memorial. There she found common ground with friends of Misael Ruiz.

Celone (pictured above) got out of her car on Long Wharf Drive Monday afternoon and knelt by a cluster of candles honoring Ruiz, a 23-year-old man she’d never met — a bystander who had been killed in a fatal crash at an illegal drag-race Saturday night.

“Are you family?” Celone asked of two young women standing nearby. The women said they were friends of Ruiz.

Celone hung a rosary on a bunch of flowers. Though she didn’t know their friend, she said she did know their grief.

“I understand the shock and pain,” Celone told them. Her grandson, 14-year-old Ralphy Russo, was fatally struck by an SUV while riding his bike in West Haven on May 5.

The scenario in Ralphy’s death was different from the drag race: Police have said the SUV driver who hit him was not at fault.

Still Ralphy’s grandma and Ruiz’s friends found common ground on the topic of traffic-calming.

“They gotta put something here, like speed bumps,” said one of Ruiz’s friends, who declined to be named.

“The cops should enforce more about the races,” she said, “because people are dying”

Traffic-related deaths are “a problem everywhere,” Celone chimed in. “Something needs to be done.”

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Comments

Posted by: Ben | August 19, 2008 9:59 AM

"Something needs to be done about the races" from someone who declines to leave there name?
Maybe something like calling the police when you know a race is going to happen and not being scared to give your name.

Posted by: NewHaven1 | August 19, 2008 2:00 PM

"Police have said the SUV driver who hit him was not at fault."

Ok ok ok.. someone please explain something to me. The driver left the scene for one, correct? Two your telling me he/she was not speeding?? I find it hard to believe...

Posted by: Kevin Ewing | August 19, 2008 3:16 PM

NH1: you're mixing up the 2 stories. The story about West Haven accident where this woman's grandson was killed didn't mention that the driver didn't stop. The story in the link says they had a green light.

I have a suggestion... If it really is illegal to watch this activity then why not stop on 95 with a camera and shoot the scene to prove there was drag racing. Then block the 2 or 3 exits from Long Wharf (or the 3 or 4 on River Street so they can't escape then make a sweep picking up everyone. Anyone on the scene is subject to arrest. Confiscate the cars and make them walk home or call their parents to come get them. It might take more than the cops on the task force to pull it off but it would only need to happen a couple of times before they got the message.

Ralphy’s Grandmother Pays Respects

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