Carmel police seek Jeep Cherokee hit-and-run driver who struck, killed

Carmel town police are asking the public to help them find the driver of a Jeep Cherokee who struck a man who was walking to his parked car on South Lake Boulevard in Mahopac on June 26, 2021. The victim, identified only as a 61-year-old Carmel man, later died of his injuries. The collision happened around 8:07 p.m.

According to police, the victim was approaching his car, which was parked in front of his property on the north side of South Lake Boulevard, when he and the vehicle were struck by a westbound gray Jeep Cherokee with gold-colored New York license plates.

Police said the Jeep Cherokee did not stop, but instead continued west on South Lake Boulevard in the direction of Baldwin Place Road. The Jeep has passenger-side damage as a result of the crash, police said.

The victim, who was in traumatic arrest, was taken by a Mahopac Fire Department ambulance to Westchester Medical Center in Valhala, where he later died as a result of his injuries.

Carmel police detectives are continuing to investigate, assisted by Putnam County's Sheriff's Department and Accident Reconstruction Team.  Residents near South Lake Boulevard are asked to check their home surveillance video for any relevant footage at the time of the collision.

Our Westchester wrongful death lawyers, who handle hit and run accident cases know that the sad reality is that most drivers who flee the scene of an accident are never identified and apprehended. While more and more drivers who flee the scene of an accident are being identified because of advances in technology, especially the greater availability of surveillance cameras, unfortunately, most drivers who flee the scene of an accident are never identified and arrested.  Even though the family of someone who was killed in a hit and run accident may never see the satisfaction of having the culprit brought to justice, our Westchester hit and run accident lawyers know that New York has set up a system to make sure that victims of hit and run accident and families of people killed in hit and run accidents receive some compensation. New York law requires that every insurance company that does business in New York state, must include a provision for uninsured motorist benefits. This rule also applies to out of state vehicles to who come into New York, because New York has a "deemer" statute, which deems that the second an out of state vehicle enters New York, their insurance policy is deemed to have New York's minimum limits, which includes uninsured motorist benefits. 

Some of the most frequent questions that our Westchester hit and run accident lawyers are asked are as follows: I was hurt in a hit and run, Who can I sue?  or I was hit by a car that fled the scene, what are my rights? and My husband or wife was killed in an accident where the driver fled the scene, what am I entitled to? Our Westchester hit and run accident lawyers know that if you were injured in an accident where the driver fled the scene, your own insurance company, as well as the insurance company for any car in your household, has to provide uninsured motorist benefits. If you do not have a vehicle in your household, there is a state fund, called the Motor Vehicle Accident Indemnification Corp., which provides no fault benefits of up to $50,000 for medical bills and lost wages, and up to $25,000 for pain and suffering. Uninsured motorist benefits under an insurance policy include payment of your medical bills and lost wages, as well as compensation for pain and suffering, up to the policy limits. If your family member was killed in a hit and run accident, then you are entitled to recover medical and funeral expenses, as well as compensation for the decedent's pre-death pain and suffering and the financial loss for the decedent's beneficiaries. 

The driver must be able to prove that the accident was hit-and-run, or that the other driver cannot be identified for other reasons. To be entitled to uninsured motorist benefits, New York law requires that the accident  be reported to the police within 24 hours of the accident and that generally, the injured party must file an application for no fault benefits and uninsured motorist benefits within 30 days of the accident.