On 27th July 2021, Tuesday, the 22-year old driver of Nissan Maxima, Justine Mendez was supposedly reported to be driving his car at a speed of 15 mph over the specified speed limit on the Montauk Highway in the Quogue in the town of Southampton on the south shore of Long Island, when a sheriff flashed his car patrol lights in an try to catch up with the Maxima. As per the initial reports by the police officials, in an attempt to avoid the policemen, the driver of the Maxima, Mendez turned off the headlight of his car, prior to losing control at a hairpin bend.
Who was Justin Mendez?
This act of Mendez not only made the situation worse but caused five people to lose their life, including himself. As per the police, Nissan Maxima struck with an Uber driver’s Toyota Prius. In this fatal head-on car crash, the driver of the Uber Toyota Prius, Farhan Zahid, 20-year old, Michael Farrell, and 25-year old, James Farrell as well as the 25-year old passenger, Ryan Kiess lost their dear life including Justin Mendez.
Zahid, the driver died in the tragic car crash leaving behind his wife and three young children. It is still not clear, whether Mendez was indeed trying to avoid the police, who insist they never followed him down. The Police Chief of Quogue, Christopher Isola held a press conference on the day of the Montauk Highway crash and stated that the officer lost sight of Mendez, thus they never caught him.
He further stated that that police officer has certainly observed the car at a high speed accompanied by some eyewitnesses. It has also been reported by the police, that the 22-year old Mendez who hailed from Brookhaven town of Suffolk County was immediately taken to nearby Southampton Hospital where he was declared dead by the doctors. Moreover, during the investigation, the police also stated that they discovered a short amount of marijuana in his car as well as in his system.
However, one of the neighbours of Mendez named, Shirley, has stated that the life of the 22-year-old boy should not be judged by one error. She continued to say that he was a good child. He was young and did something stupid, but we have also been in that situation as well when we were kids. Meanwhile, the father of Mendez, Octavio Perez stated that he does not know what had happened exactly, but he does not want anyone to think any less of his son, as he was a great boy.
He was their everything. The mother of Mendez, Aida Perrex, also said that if her son had endured, he would not be able to live with the blame and pain. Aida further stated that she is at peace with where her beloved child is because she knew that if he would have stood, either way, his mistake or not, he would have palyed it over in his own mind that he took the lives of the innocent.
