These Fatal Hit-And-Run Cases, And More Remain Unsolved On Long Island

LONG ISLAND, NY — Suffolk police are highlighting a series of unsolved crimes — one including a fatal hit-and-run from December 2022 — as part of National Crime Victims Week, with offers to pay out fast cash rewards for information leading to arrests in each of the cases.

In the first case, Robert Twiford, 61, of Melville, had parked his vehicle on the off-ramp of eastbound Long Island Expressway at Exit 60, got out, and, while in the lane of travel, he was struck by a vehicle that fled the scene on Dec. 5, 2022, police said.

The driver of the vehicle, which was described as a light-colored, possibly gray, 2015 to 2018 Ford Focus hatchback, got out on Garrity Avenue in Ronkonkoma and examined the vehicle with a flashlight.

Twiford died later at the hospital.

In the second unsolved case, Alberto Perea Vazquezwas crossing Horseblock Road in Farmingville on Dec. 11, 2023, when he was struck by a westbound vehicle. The driver stopped, exited the vehicle, then fled the scene.

Vazquez was then struck by another vehicle that stayed at the scene, but detectives believe that the vehicle that fled is a gray 2003 to 2007 four-door Honda Accord. Vazquez, 56, of Farmingville, died at the scene.

Another case includes that involving a 45-year-old woman, who was assaulted in a wooded area behind Walmart on Veterans Memorial Highway in Islandia, on Dec. 20, 2023.

She was taken to a hospital where she was treated and released.
locate the suspect.

Other cases include that of 51-year-old Marco Tulio Pineda, who was slain and found in a rear yard on Second Avenue in Central Islip on Feb. 1, 2024.

Forty-seven-year-old Santos Aguirre, who was killed while crossing Route 110 in Amityville on Sept. 3, 2023 is also included on the list. He was struck by two vehicles that fled the scene, and one driver has since been arrested, but detectives are continuing to search for the driver of the other vehicle, a black 2015 to 2020 Mercedes Benz GLA SUV.

Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina noted that the department's partnership with Crime Stoppers has been "instrumental in solving cases for more than three decades.”

“By highlighting these unsolved cases, we hope to bring justice to these victims and their families," he said. "We are asking the public to come forward with any information they think could aid in our investigations.”

Anyone with information on any of the cases can call 1-800-220-TIPS, a confidential police hotline.