Girl Testifies on Race Fight at Howard Beach

A teen-age girl told a jury Wednesday that she “got scared” as she sat in a car during a confrontation between three black men and white youths charged in a fatal racial attack that took place later the same night at Howard Beach.

Claudia Calogero, 17, testified in state Supreme Court in Queens that she had been at a party with the five youths, who are on trial on charges involving the Dec. 20, 1986, attack that left a black man dead.

The high school junior, who is white, said she got a ride home from Salvadore DeSimone, who pleaded guilty to rioting and facilitation charges while the jurors were being selected.

Three black men crossed in front of the car on a street near the New Park Pizzeria in the Howard Beach section, and DeSimone shouted: “Get out of the way! We almost hit you!” Calogero testified.

She said that during the ensuing argument, two of the black men approached the driver’s side of the car and a third man went to the passenger’s side.

“He stuck his head through the window,” Calogero said. “I got scared. I didn’t know what was going to happen.” She said DeSimone then drove her home.

The other passengers in the car included defendant William Bollander and Jon Lester, who was a defendant in an earlier trial stemming from the incident.