New York grandfather run over by own car in parking dispute was ‘very gentle,’ heartbroken son says

The 77-year-old Brooklyn grandfather crushed to death by his own car during an argument over a parking space last week was a “very gentle” man who would not lose his temper, a his son told the Post.

Iosif Lontsman certainly would not have raised his voice at the woman in the other vehicle while parking at Sheepshead Bay on Thursday because “he has too much respect” for women, his grieving son, Mark, said at a interview Tuesday.

“My father was a very, very gentle individual throughout his life,” Mark Lontsman said. “No one knows what he had in mind, what he felt. Since I know him, if it’s probably parking, he would go out and talk to the lady.

“He would do it politely – he wouldn’t come out in anger and fury, especially with a woman,” he said. “He has too much respect for women to come out with any anger. It was never like him.

The elder Lontsman, a devoted grandfather who grew up in Kazakhstan, got out of his Subaru Forester to speak with the 43-year-old woman driving a second car during a disagreement over parking on Avenue W and Ocean Avenue around 4:30 p.m., police said.

As he was getting out, his car, which was still moving, struck him and pinned him between the woman’s Subaru and Nissan Altima, police said.

An employee at a local store said the driver of the Nissan had tears in his eyes and tried to help, to no avail.

“The lady, she tried to help,” said the employee, who asked not to be identified. “She put her foot on the brake.

“She was screaming, ‘Help, please help, please help,'” she said. “He was a great guy. It hurts. He’s a human being. He had kids. He had grandkids.

He was rushed to NYU Langone Hospital in Brooklyn, where he was pronounced dead.

No charges have been filed in connection with this freak accident.

“At first I was in disbelief,” his son said. “It doesn’t hit you right away, but the grief builds up more and more every day and then you realize it’s not there.

“We don’t know what really happened, the uncertainty about what happened makes the situation more difficult to manage,” added Mark Lontsman.

Iosef Lontsman’s family roots are in Ukraine and Belarus, but the family fled Jewish persecution and ended up in Kazakhstan, where he grew up and met his future wife, his son said.

“My mother told me she was looking for a handsome, family-oriented, determined, Jewish husband who could start and provide for a family,” he said. “They were absolutely a team.

“It was a good match. They complemented each other,” the son said. “When she died, a part of him died with her. It was like half of him had disappeared.

His grandfather emigrated to the United States in 1989 to build a better life for his family and worked in construction.

He adored his two grandchildren, a 12-year-old girl and a 7-year-old boy. Mark Lontsman said the two youngsters were so attached that he hadn’t yet had the heart to tell them their grandfather was gone.

“He had been helping them since the day they were born. He walked them in strollers. He took my daughter to ballet lessons. He would take my son to the playground,” he said. “When he came to see my children and heard my son’s voice, he would run and hug him.

“My son was like, ‘Hey Grandpa,’” he added. “We haven’t even told them yet. They wanted to go to my father’s house for Passover. They asked, “Why didn’t we go?” We told them that grandfather was not well.

“We’ll have to tell them soon.”