Motorcyclists Mass After Crash Kills Leader

Memorial candles were lit, engines revved, and cries of ​“Revolucion!” rang out at the corner of Whalley and Ramsdell Sunday evening at the spot where an allegedly drunk driver killed the popular leader of a local motorcycle club.

The fatal crash took place two evenings early, on Friday, around 9:30 p.m.

Daniel Velazquez Quinones, 42, president of the Revolucion motorcycle club, was out riding his Harley at that time a few blocks from his Beverly Road home in New Haven’s Beverly Hills neighborhood. According to Edgar Diaz, the club vice-president, Velazquez had just recharged the battery and was making sure the bike was in good shape for an important ride: To a funeral planned for Saturday for fellow motorcyclist Ivan Zayas Jr. Zayas had died of Covid-19.

Velazquez was traveling east on Whalley in the right travel lane, toward downtown. A 52-year-old New Haven man driving an SUV was traveling westbound on Whalley, toward Woodbridge.

The SUV driver began to turn left onto Ramsdell Street, and Velazquez’s motorcycle crashed into the left front driver side of the SUV, according to police.

Velazquez was taken by ambulance to Yale New haven Hospital, where he died of his injuries.

Police charged the driver at the scene with driving under the influence; he was released on a $150,000 bond. Police believe more charges may follow pending an investigation by the department’s Accident Reconstruction Team.

Velazquez’s death hit hard for friends, loved ones, and members of the motorcycling community who gathered in the parking lot of Around the Clock Food Mart at Ramsdell and Whalley Sunday night to remember him. Between 50 and 100 filled the lot and grass over the course of a couple of hours.

Some said they felt doubly slammed by the loss of Velazquez right after the loss of Zayas.

“He was very family oriented, and a lot of people loved him,” ex-wife Vanessa Vargas said. She said motorcycle riding ​“was his life,” and he served as Revolucion MC president for 12 years.

“This hurts,” said a fellow rider named Ghost, who said he grew up with Velazquez and attended Wilbur Cross High School with him. ​“He grew up out here. He would give his shirt to help anyone. He was a king.”

“Revolucion!” friends and family members chanted.

Periodic engine blasts punctuated the evening as members of other Latino motorcycle clubs arrived in groups, to show respect.

“He was a good dude. He was committed,” said ​“Bebe” of Untitled MC. ​“We’re all here to show love and support.”

Daughter Daneisha Velazquez, 17, said she felt that love and support, and needed it. ​“He was so great. Everyone wanted to be like him,” she said. ​“I know people looked up to him.”

The state spent $18.8 million 12 years ago to widen an eight-tenth-of-a-mile stretch of Whalley including the Ramsdell intersection in order to enable cars to travel faster.

A hit-and-run driver killed popular school crossing guard Celeste ​“CeCe” Staten Gilchrist a block up that same stretch, on Whalley between Davis and Anthony, in the early morning hours of Sept. 27, 2020. A hit-and-run driver struck and killed 11-year-old pedestrian Gabrielle Alexis Lee on Whalley between Davis and Anthony on June 4, 2008.