In New York, drivers involved in an accident are required by law to stop and render aid and then share insurance information. If the accident involved injuries, drivers are also required to call the police and wait for them to arrive to complete a police report. When there are no injuries, drivers have up to 10 days to report the accident. If there is only property damage, leaving the scene without sharing insurance information is only a traffic violation. In the case of there being minor injuries, leaving the scene before police arrive is a misdemeanor. If the accident involves serious injuries or a fatality, the hit-and-run becomes a felony.
The Brentwood-Central Islip Patch reports on the arrest of a driver and two passengers involved in a hit-and-run crash that injured a police officer in Brentwood.
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Officers responded to a 911 call involving a crash in Medford. The police determined that 17-year-old Jaheem Funderburke was behind the wheel of a 2018 Mazda 6 at the crash scene. As he was headed northbound on Gordon Road when he struck a 2001 Nissan. The Nissan was being driven by a 42-year-old Medford woman.
Funderburke and two of the passengers, identified as 18-year-old Kalithe Bell and 18-year-old Kenya Uceda, all fled from the scene on foot.
Aerial and canine units began the search for the three teens, and they were eventually tracked by canine units to a wooded area south of Dourland Road. At 7:15 p.m., police arrested the trio, nearly half an hour after the accident.
Bell and Uceda were charged with seventh-degree possession of a controlled substance.
Funderburke was charged with leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident, seventh-degree possession of a controlled substance, and fifth-degree criminal possession of marijuana.
Police were also able to link Funderburke to an incident Friday night in which he struck a Suffolk County Police officer while driving the Mazda. For this incident, Funderburke is facing charges of second-degree assault and first-degree reckless endangerment.
He also had a bench warrant out for his arrest for third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance.
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