Long Island Woman Changed Cracked Windshield After Fatal Hit-And-Run: DA

RONKONKOMA, NY — An East Northport woman is facing upgraded charges in connection with a hit-and-run in Lake Ronkonkoma over the summer, after Suffolk prosecutors say she changed her windshield two hours after bolting from the crash scene.

Michelle Karp, 28, has been charged with leaving the scene of an incident resulting in death and tampering with physical evidence for leaving the scene of the crash that killed Lydia Ciminelli, 72, in Ronkonkoma on Aug. 7, prosecutors said.

Ciminelli was crossing Rosevale Avenue, just south of Motor Parkway, at around 9:30 a.m. when she was struck by a southbound vehicle, described as a dark-colored sedan, that fled the scene, police originally said back in August.

She was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

“Striking a pedestrian and driving away, leaving them injured and lying in the road, is no accident,” said District Attorney Ray Tierney. “This defendant allegedly did just that and attempted to cover it up. This is a serious crime and we will treat it as such.”

Karp was driving a gray 2009 Nissan Maxima southbound on Rosevale Avenue when it

struck Ciminelli, prosecutors said, adding that Karp then drove away from the scene without rendering aid to the victim and failed to report the collision to law enforcement.

Two hours after the crash, Karp replaced the broken windshield on her vehicle, which cracked, and in the police investigation, officers recovered car parts in the roadway matching the damage on Karp’s Nissan, prosecutors said.

Karp, who was placed on supervised release during the pendency of the case and her driver’s license was suspended, is due back in court on Dec. 19.

Patch has reached out to her attorney David Besso of Bay Shore for comment.