Mom of hit-run victim: Driver 'broke my heart'

EPIFANIO VELAZQUEZ thought the voice at the other end of the line was playing a cruel joke.

"The owner of this phone just got hit by a truck," the mysterious caller said late June 22.

But that's impossible, Velazquez thought: The number matched his brother Julio's cellphone.

Velazquez demanded more details, but the caller hung up in a panic.

A few hours later, he received another call. It wasn't a joke, although he wishes it were.

His brother Julio Torres was lying in Temple University Hospital, grievously wounded after he was run down by a pickup truck while riding a bicycle in North Philly. Torres, 54, a father of two, died at the hospital two days later.

Now, his family is imploring Raymond Wands, the man for whom police issued an arrest warrant Sunday in the fatal crash, to come forward.

"He broke my heart and took a piece of it with him," Ana Rivera, Torres' mother, told the Daily News last night in Spanish. "This is a loss we are really going to feel."

Investigators are scouring the city for Wands, 38, who allegedly was behind the wheel of the 1989 Ford F-150 that smashed into Torres as he was biking on Erie Avenue near D Street, police said.

Police narrowed their search to Wands, of Penn Street near Orthodox in Frankford, from the pickup, which he ditched a few blocks from the crash scene.

He owns the truck, and a witness at the scene helped police build their case, they said.

Wands, who has a long criminal history that includes convictions for burglary and drug offenses, faces charges including leaving the scene of an accident and homicide by vehicle while DUI, police said.

"We don't want revenge, we just want justice," Torres' sister Miriam Vigo said, surrounded by relatives in the home her brother shared with her parents on 8th Street near Annsbury in Hunting Park.

Across the living room, sister Carmen Garrett spoke up.

"We certainly understand the initial shock, and the realization that he took a life, but he needs to do the right thing," she said of her brother's alleged killer. "And he needs to do it now."

The last time Torres' family saw him alive was early Monday, as he headed to work at a friend's auto-body shop on Westmoreland Street.

About 8 p.m., Torres told the owner that he was heading out to see his brother, according to his family.

He declined a ride and borrowed a bike from a co-worker.

About two hours later, that bike lay in a ruined heap, a piece of debris left behind by the driver who plowed into Torres and then fled.

Recent days have been tough for his family, especially his daughters, Cynthia, 29, and Viviana, 24, who live in Boothwyn, Delaware County.

Bittersweet memories of Torres flood their waking hours: His constant, booming trips up and down the stairs of the tiny Hunting Park house. The massive feast of fried pork and rice - Torres' favorite dinner - that Rivera made for Father's Day. His parents didn't realize it would be the last meal they'd share with him.

Their hearts aren't the only ones broken. Nearby, in a Feltonville eatery, Torres' second family grieves for "JJ," a man who played many roles: Kitchen hand, dishwasher, support system.

"I've known sweet people, I've known kind people, but no one will ever compare," said Daniela, who didn't want to share her last name.

Her family owns Milan's, a cozy breakfast-and-lunch joint on Wyoming Avenue near Mascher Street, one of Torres' haunts, a place he visited so much that he was practically an employee.

On June 22, as part of his normal routine, Torres stopped in at midday to grab a bite to eat and to catch up on the day's gossip.

Daniela didn't get a chance to talk with him at length, which now haunts her.

"This is an extreme loss for everybody," she said last night, her voice hollow.

A memorial service for Torres will be held from 9:30 to 11 a.m. Thursday at the Guckin Funeral Mansion, on G Street near Thayer in Kensington. He will be buried at Greenmount Cemetery, on Front Street near Hunting Park Avenue in Feltonville.

Tipsters with information on Wands' whereabouts should call 215-686-8477.