Motorcyclist killed in Franklin Square hit and run

November 29, 2009
By MICHAEL AMON

A Franklin Square man heading home on his motorcycle Sunday to meet his family to go the Radio City Christmas show was killed by a hit-and-run driver, Nassau police and the man's mother said.

John Deiker, 46, was approaching his Commonwealth Street home at 11:46 a.m. when his 2004 Honda motorcycle was hit by an unknown vehicle at Commonwealth and Naple Avenue, police said.

"He was just six houses away from home," said his mother, Virginia Deiker, of Garden City Park.

His wife, Christine, his 4-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter were waiting for him to take them to the Radio City Music Hall when a neighbor knocked on their door and told them Deiker had been in an accident down the street, Virginia Deiker said.

John Deiker was taken by ambulance to Franklin Hospital Medical Center in Valley Stream, where he was pronounced dead at 12:31 p.m.

Police said Sunday they were looking for the driver of the other vehicle but released no details.

Police asked anyone with knowledge of the crash to call Crime Stoppers at 800-244-TIPS.

Deiker, a self-employed home improvement specialist, grew up in Valley Stream and was "very outgoing, very funny, and very bright," his mother said. His main interest outside of his family was his motorcycle.

"I don't know if it's an adult who hit my son, and I hope it was a kid because all I can think is he probably panicked," she said. "If it's an adult, then I hope that what goes around comes around. He left my daughter-in-law and my two grandchildren without a father."

She added: "My granddaughter wants to know who's going to put up the Christmas tree and who's going to throw her in the air."

By By Michael Amon
Posted Monday, November 30, 2009

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