Woman Indicted After Leaving Scene Of Hit-And-Run That Killed Flanders Man: DA

RIVERSIDE, NY — A Shirley woman was indicted Tuesday for fleeing a crash that killed a Flanders man earlier in October, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

According to Tierney, on October 5 at 7:19 p.m., Silvia Alvaraz DeReyes, 46, who is from El Salvador, was driving a 1999 Toyota Corolla north on Flanders Road in Riverside. As the vehicle passed through a crosswalk where Ever Eli Damina Mazat, 45, was walking, the vehicle was seen coming to a brief stop before DeReyes drove off, Tierney said.

Southampton Town police said, while on patrol in the area of Flanders Road and Vail Avenue, a Southampton Town police officer came upon a man lying on the ground, unconscious, in the westbound lane, police said. After a brief investigation, it was determined that the man had been struck by a vehicle that had subsequently fled the scene, police said.

Mazat died at the scene as a result of the injuries he sustained from being hit by Alvarez DeReyes' car, the DA said.

Alvarez DeReyes left the scene without seeking assistance for Mazat or contacting police, authorities said.

Instead, she reportedly went to a friend’s house in Mastic after the collision; two hours later, she returned to the scene of the crash with her friends, Tierney said.

Alvarez DeReyes was ultimately placed under arrest; the Toyota Corolla was later recovered at the friend’s home in Mastic and secured as evidence, Tierney said.

On Tuesday, Alvarez DeReyes was produced pursuant to a writ from the custody of the United States Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the DA said. She was arraigned on the indictment before Acting Supreme Court Justice Steven Pilewski on charges including one count of leaving the scene of an incident without reporting, a Class D felony, and one count of operating a motor vehicle outside the class of license, a traffic infraction, Tierney said.

Justice Pilewski ordered Alvarez DeReyes remanded during the pendency of the case; she is due back in court on November 25 and faces two-and- third to seven years in prison if convicted on the top count, the DA said.

She is being represented by the Suffolk County Legal Aid Society.

DHS-ICE has lodged a detainer to return Alvarez DeReyes to ICE custody after she serves her sentence, Tierney said.

"This case underscores the serious consequences of fleeing the scene of a crash," Tierney said. "When someone leaves the injured behind without contacting the police, they not only break the law but betray the basic standards of decency our community expects. Our office will continue to pursue justice for victims and hold offenders accountable."