Two Arraigned In Fatal Labor Day Hit-And-Run On Long Island
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) - Two people on Long Island have turned themselves into police in connection with a fatal hit-and-run accident over Labor Day weekend.
Nicole Grammerstorf and Mark Monserrat were arraigned minutes apart on Thursday and both pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors said Grammerstorf hit and killed a pedestrian over Labor Day weekend in Huntington Station before taking off.
Authorities said the victim was dragged several hundred feet after being hit.
Two Arraigned In Fatal Labor Day Hit-And-Run On Long Island
According to prosecutors, Grammerstorf had her 5-month-old child in the Nissan SUV at the time of the crash.
Prosecutors said she then tried to cover up the crash by taking the car to Monserrat's auto body shop.
Grammerstorf's attorney John Loturco said his client was not behind the wheel at the time of the accident.
"She had sold the car, she had transferred title before the incident date," Loturco told WCBS 880's Sophia Hall. "She not only was not driving it, she no longer owned it."
Monserrat's lawyer said his client purchased the SUV from a salvage dealer, not from Grammerstorf.
"He inspected the car when it was brought into his auto body shop. It showed no evidence whatsoever of any sort of accident involving the death of a human being. There was no hair, there was no blood, there was no tissue, there were dents in the front of the car," attorney John Ebel told Hall.
Monserrat fixed up the car and then sold it, Ebel said.
As Hall reported, prosecutors said Grammerstorf's top charge is leaving the scene of an accident without reporting it. Monserrat faces charges including tampering with evidence.
If convicted, she faces up to seven years in prison while he faces up to four years behind bars.
Grammerstorf was released on $50,000 bond. Monserrat's bond was set at $30,000.
