An ongoing collection of unsolved hit-and-run cases, with a focus on car/pedestrian incidents, from across the country since Jan. ‘010. If you know something about any of these incidents, or one that I’ve missed, do the right thing and call the police, even anonymously.
5256. Los Angeles, Cal. June 12. 19-year-old man on bicycle fatally struck by a red or maroon Pontiac or Toyota which fled the scene.
5257. Lancaster, Pa. June 11. 44-year-old man injured when struck by a green Mitsubishi which fled the scene.
5258. Watertown, NY. June 12. Woman injured when struck by a van which fled the scene.
5259. West Frankfort, Ill. June 12. Woman injured when struck by a white two-door vehicle which fled the scene.
5260. Bridgeport Twp., Mich. June 12. 54-year-old man on bicycle injured when struck by a large white passenger car which fled the scene.
5261. Pasadena, Cal. June 12. 49-year-old man injured when struck by a pickup truck which fled the scene.
5262-63. Boca Raton, Fla. June 13. Two children injured when struck by an off-white Saturn which fled the scene.
5264. Fort Collins, Colo. June 14. 40-year-old man on bicycle injured when struck by a vehicle which fled the scene; driver followed and charged.
5265. Hollywood, Cal. June 14. Man injured when struck by an unidentified vehicle which fled the scene.
5266. Levittown, NY. June 15. 13-year-old girl fatally struck by a blue Town and Country minivan which fled the scene.
Related stories:
And I quote (I)…
LOS ANGELES (AP) – A substance-abuse counselor was sentenced Thursday to 55 years to life in prison for hitting a pedestrian with her car and driving through a Los Angeles suburb with the dying man on her windshield.
A jury earlier this year convicted Sherri Lynn Wilkins, 53, of second-degree murder, driving under the influence and hit-and-run.
Prosecutors said Wilkins’ blood-alcohol level was nearly twice the legal limit when she struck 31-year-old Phillip Moreno in November 2012 as she was leaving a counseling center.
She drove two miles through the city of Torrance before other motorists swarmed her car at a traffic light and kept her there until police arrived. Moreno was taken to a hospital, where he died. (H/T Brian Villa)
And I quote (II)…
A suspect has been arrested in the hit-and-run death of a 23-year-old woman whose body was found Sunday on the roadside in Breese, according to police.
And I quote (III)…
LOWELL — As 86-year-old Elmer Mortensen lay bleeding in the street after being struck by a car, police allege the driver of that car, Hector Caustrita, got out of his car, looked at the dying man, got back into his car and drove off.
Caustrita, 21, of Lowell, allegedly admitted to his brother that he was “scared and in trouble,” prosecutor Clarence Brown said during Caustrita’s Lowell District Court arraignment Thursday. Caustrita’s brother, Joseph, told police his brother was crying and admitted he “hit someone and the person appeared to be dead,” Brown said.
In Lowell District Court, Judge Catherine Byrne released Caustrita, who has no record, on $1,500 cash bail after he pleaded not guilty to leaving the scene of an accident after death in the June 4 fatal hit and run crash.
And I quote (IV)…
With just five days left in the New York State Assembly session, North Fork and East End lawmakers are making a last-minute push to drum up support for bills that would increase penalties for hit-and-run drivers who flee the scene of serious accidents.
Those bills — including one co-sponsored by the North Fork’s assemblyman, Anthony Palumbo — are currently stalled in committee, where they have sat since January. The legislators say they have until Tuesday to get a bill out of the committee and onto the floor for a full Assembly vote.
“Really what we need to do is put pressure on the chair [of the Transportation Committee] to do it,” Mr. Palumbo told the News-Review. “It needs to be reported to the door by Tuesday, because it looks like we’re going to wrap up Thursday or Friday of next week.”
And I quote (V)…
More than three years after 20-year-old Melissa Lech of Joliet died in a hit-and-run crash, David H. McCarthy IV showed up unannounced at the home of Lech’s sister to make a startling confession.
The Naperville man said he was the person driving the vehicle that struck and killed Lech in 2008 as she walked home from a sports bar.
AdvertisementNow Will County prosecutors say the confession McCarthy made in February 2012 was a lie. On Thursday, they were forced to drop the criminal case against McCarthy and release him from jail.
And I quote (VI)…
“My son, that’s killing me. It’s hard. It’s very hard on me,” Marie Maurent said.
And I quote (VII)…
SAN ANTONIO- It has been over a month since 20-year-old Jose Carlos Macy was hit and killed while riding his bicycle. The driver took off and still hasn’t been found.
And I quote (VIII)…
“I don’t want him to hurt anybody else. I don’t want anybody else to go through what we’ve gone through,” Debbie, Davids’ mother, said.
And I quote (IX)…
A Setauket cardiologist, who prosecutors said left the scene of a crash that killed a Middle Island mother of three, slurred his speech, smelled of alcohol and “was unsteady on his feet” when found by police, according to court papers.
Thomas Stavola, 54, told officers he had a beer before the crash early Saturday morning that killed Monica Peterman, 45.
“I went to a bar. I was driving home . . . I veered off the road and hit a curb,” Stavola said after the crash in Smithtown, according to court papers. “I got out of my car and started walking.”
Caught, convicted, court appearance or car-on-car in … San Antonio, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah; Sacramento, Cal.; Glen Cove, NY; Houston, Texas; Edmonds, Wash.; Denver, Colo.; Mashantucket Pequot Reservation; Houston, Texas.
More hit-and-run stories, including every volume of Hit-and-Run America (in reverse order), are accessible from this linked page. (The full Volume-by-Volume list will appear sporadically from now on.)