Long Island Teenager Killed In Hit-And-Run, Police Seek Driver
PORT JEFFERSON STATION, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A Long Island teenager was killed in a hit-and-run accident Saturday night.
Suffolk County Police said it happened just before 9:30 p.m. in Port Jefferson Station.
Seventeen-year-old Jenna Perez, of Selden, was crossing Nesconset Highway near Terryville Road when she was struck by a vehicle that police believe was traveling westbound.
Police said the driver took off after hitting Perez.
Perez was pronounced dead at the scene.
She had told her co-workers at Five Guys she planned to get food elsewhere before heading home.
But she never made it.
"Anything that affects one of our people so horribly affects all of us," Five Guys owner Bill Gellert told CBS2's Dave Carlin.
Gellert said not only did Perez work for him, her twin sister works there, too. The sister was working late Saturday and was in the process of helping close for the night, when Jenna was struck a short distance away.
"It's devastating for us and I imagine for her family and, particularly, for her sister," Gellert said.
Police did not release any identifying information about the driver or vehicle, Carlin reported.
"You would hope that somebody would find it in their heart to take responsibility," Gellert said.
"How somebody could hit someone and take off like that? It's just really sad," a neighbor of Perez family in Selden said, adding when asked about the fallen teen that she was "very respectful, nice. Her and her sister. It's just sad how it went down."
All the lanes of Nesconset Highway were open again Sunday Morning, and by late afternoon Carlin saw the first items for a memorial for Perez, whose loved ones said they need an arrest and justice for Jenna.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call Major Case Unit at (631) 852-6555 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-220-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.