Police have released the names of two 22-year-old women who were involved in a horrific crash on a Staten Island highway when their car hit a guardrail, spun through multiple lanes and burst into flames.
At around 11:00 p.m., Jianna Pischetola of Midland Beach was driving a 2023 Chevy Corvette eastbound on the highway when the car struck Pass the barrier near the Hylan Boulevard/Clove Road exit. according to police on Sunday.
Pichetola, of Brooklyn’s Dyker Heights neighborhood, and her passenger, Gabriela Schamas, were pronounced dead at the scene by emergency services.
The crash involved a 2018 Ford F150 with three occupants; two 49-year-olds and a 15-year-old girl were not injured, according to police.
The tragic scene began around 11pm. An initial investigation by the NYPD’s Highway District Collision Squad discovered the situation when police received a 911 call about a vehicle collision on the Staten Island Expressway near Hanover Avenue to Brooklyn.
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Pichetola was driving his Corvette convertible on the eastbound highway when he lost control and struck the barrier separating the main driveway from the Hyland Avenue exit, the NYPD said. As a result, the Corvette flipped onto the street and, according to initial police investigations, crashed into the passenger side of the pickup truck, which was also traveling in the center lane of the Brooklyn-bound highway.
The Corvette continued on all Brooklyn-bound lanes before eventually pulling over and catching fire in the HOV lane. Police said Piccetola sustained serious injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
The accident was one of three separate clashes across the city on Sunday that left four people dead. In addition to the incident on the Staten Island Freeway, a 29-year-old male motorcyclist was killed in a previous crash on New Dorp Lane, police said.
The NYPD identified the motorcyclist as Ahmed Motea Assabahi, 29, of Brooklyn.
New Utrecht resident Assabahi was riding a 2023 Kawasaki ER650P motorcycle at speed around 8.30pm. When the vehicle hit the sidewalk, Asabahi slid into a white 2019 Dodge Ram pickup truck driven by a 21-year-old man who was turning left onto 10th Street from New Dorp Lane, police said.
No arrests have been made in connection with the motorcycle accident.
