Italian Market victim: 'She had a whole life ahead of her'

Updated at Noon Monday

A TRIP TO the Italian Market turned tragic Sunday after a man, who police say was driving under the influence, caused a violent crash at a crowded intersection, killing a little girl on the sidewalk and injuring four others.

Cops said that 28-year-old Max Drosi, of Florida, was driving a rented Chevy Impala westbound on Washington Avenue around 12:30 p.m. when he blew a red light at 8th Street, colliding with a southbound Nissan Xterra SUV in the intersection and sending that vehicle ricocheting into a busy corner outside a market.

Jesse Giordano, the owner of Captain Jesse G. Inc., watched the tragedy unfold and narrowly avoided being injured when the SUV plowed into the corner where his shop sits, sending fruit lined up in wooden boxes outside flying and injuring two adults and two children at the corner. One victim, an 11-year-old girl, was pronounced dead on the sidewalk at 12:40 p.m., according to police.

She was indentified Monday as Samantha Nguyen-Ortanez, of Sicklerville, N.J.

A 3-year-old boy, a 25-year-old woman and a 46-year-old man who was working at the market were also hurt. They were rushed to Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and listed in stable condition Sunday evening.

Court records indicate that this wasn't Miami-native Drosi's first brush with the law. In 2002, he was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and sentenced to probation, according to court documents. His rap sheet also includes charges for possession of marijuana in 2004 and 2007.

Drosi now faces charges in Sunday's crash of vehicular homicide while DUI, reckless endangerment, and related offenses. He's set to appear in court April 11.

The 48-year-old woman who drove the SUV also suffered minor injuries and was taken to Hahnemann University Hospital in stable condition.

Court records indicate that this wasn't Miami-native Drosi's first brush with the law. In 2002, he was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and sentenced to probation, according to court documents. His rap sheet also includes charges for possession of marijuana in 2004 and 2007.

Drosi now faces charges in Sunday's crash of vehicular homicide while DUI, reckless endangerment, and related offenses. He's set to appear in court April 11.

Giordano, whose family has owned the Bella Vista seafood and produce shop for more than 60 years, was visibly shaken as he and employees hosed down the corner in the wake of the tragedy and boarded up one of the shop's doors that had been knocked off its hinges.

"One minute you're doing business, the next . . . it's insane," an emotional Giordano said. "I can't believe it happened."

He motioned toward the sidewalk, indicating where the 11-year-old girl lay near the curb as medics tried to save her life.

"The accident just snowballed," he said. "I thought it would end right in the street, but it didn't."

Late Sunday afternoon, he stood with a handful of workers and neighbors under the shop's red awning, the group watching cars crisscross the intersection and reflecting on the tragedy.

"It's horrible, 11 years old," Michael Micali, a neighbor and friend of Giordano, said. "She had a whole life ahead of her."