Yonkers Hit-and-run Suspect To Be Arraigned In Death Of Teen: Police

YONKERS, NY — Thirty-six hours after a hit-and-run involving a 16-year-old victim, detectives successfully located the suspect, who was arrested Thursday night, hours after the teen died surrounded by family, according to the Yonkers Police Department.

After pouring hours into interviewing witnesses, recovering a surveillance video, processing forensic evidence and reconstructing the hit-and-run, investigators from the Traffic Unit, and detectives from the Major Case Squad and Crime Scene Unit were able to find the 2004 Chevrolet Express cargo van that hit the victim, Christopher “CJ” Hackett, a student at Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, police reported.

Christopher was riding an electric scooter near a shopping center on 660 McLean Avenue, east of Cricklewood North, when he was struck by the van before 12:20 a.m. on Wednesday, which is when police received a 911 call about the hit-and-run that left the teen with severe head injuries, resulting in him being sent to a local trauma center, said the report.

The discovery of the vehicle led to the arrest of Stephen Dolan, 46, of Yonkers, who is set to be arraigned Friday, according to police.

The Yonkers Police Department extended condolences to the friends and family of Christopher.

“There are no words that can assuage the grief of losing a child,” Police Commissioner Christopher Sapienza said in a statement. “Our investigation has led to the identity and arrest of the accused driver who must now face the consequences of his actions in a court of law.”

Dolan, a City of Yonkers Department of Public Works employee, is alleged to have been consuming alcohol before the hit-and-run and was under the influence of intoxicants, according to detectives.

Mayor Mike Spano said his heart goes out to the family and friends of the teen.

“This young man’s life was tragically and senselessly cut short,” Spano said in a prepared statement. “As for the accused driver, who is a city employee, the police department is conducting a full and fair investigation so that the District Attorney can hold him fully accountable under the law.”

Dolan was charged with leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident – injury resulting in death, a Class D Felony in New York, according to police.