Two teenagers from the Northeast died in a car crash early last Friday as they were bound for Temple Hospital to see a friend’s father who had been robbed and beaten at gunpoint.
Police identified the victims as Maggie Lynn Goloff, 17, of the 800 block of Cottman Ave., and Osman Zeylnov, 19, of the 400 block of Rennard St. Both were passengers in a car driven by an 18-year-old friend that collided with an SUV at Roosevelt Boulevard and Front Street at about 12:30 a.m.
A robbery involving the driver’s father less than an hour earlier began a chain of events that led to the crash. The hold-up occurred at about 11:47 p.m. on the 1900 block of Bristol St. when two unidentified men attacked a 48-year-old take-out food delivery driver.
As the delivery driver reached his intended destination and exited his car, two men approached him. One of them had a gun and demanded the victim’s belongings. During a physical struggle, the gunman beat the delivery driver repeatedly on the head with the weapon. The robbers fled when a passing patrol cop saw the fracas. The delivery driver was taken to Temple University Hospital with undisclosed injuries.
Police did not disclose the delivery driver’s name or that of his son, who — learning that his father was hurt — got behind the wheel of a 2002 Hyundai Sonata and began racing to the hospital. Zeylnov and Goloff were passengers in the car.
Witnesses said that the car was traveling southbound on Roosevelt Boulevard when the driver disregarded a red light at Rising Sun Avenue. One block south at Front Street, the car blew through another red light, police said, and collided with a westbound 2004 Ford Explorer. The Sonata then struck a traffic light pole.
Paramedics pronounced Goloff dead at the scene with undisclosed injuries. Zeylnov was pronounced dead shortly before 1 a.m. at Albert Einstein Medical Center with undisclosed injuries.
The 18-year-old driver suffered minor facial injuries, as did the other motorist, a 55-year-old woman. Both were also taken to Einstein.
Police said that the robbery was committed by two black men, each standing about 5 feet 9 inches tall. One has light skin and a thin build. He wore a gray zip-up sweatshirt and white T-shirt. The second robber has dark skin and wore all black clothing. ••
