Family outraged after driver in deadly Westchester hit and run gets time served
HARRISON, Westchester County (WABC) -- A man who pleaded guilty in a deadly Westchester County hit and run in 2016 was sentenced to time served Wednesday, leaving the victim's family and friends outraged.
Anthony Mangano, of Ozone Park, Queens, admitted to hitting tow truck driver Salvatore Brescia while driving a box truck north on I-95 in Harrison before leaving the scene on December 29, 2016.
The 32-year-old Brescia, of Stamford, Connecticut, was helping a driver who had broken down on the side of the road.
At the time he was hit, Brescia was standing in the right lane next to his truck.
Brescia died of his injuries, which consisted of blunt impact injury to his head, neck, torso and extremities. He was struck by the right side view mirror of Mangano's truck driven.
Mangano pleaded guilty last year to leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and faced up to seven years in prison, but instead, he was sentenced to 12 months of time already served.
"(To) know that he is going to be home with his family for the holiday, it's absolutely heart-wrenching," family friend Kelly Hepburn said. "It's wrong. It is so wrong."
Brescia had just bought a house with his fiancee, and the two were set to get married in July of 2017. His father, Steve Brescia, launched into an angry, emotional diatribe during the sentencing in White Plains.
"To me, you're a piece of (expletive)," he said. "Do you have anything to say to my family?... I understand accidents happen, but damn, you couldn't pull over? And you had a second chance? C'mon. We're all human beings here. Frigging act like one, not a frigging animal. You left my kid out in the frigging street...This is what you did to my family."
Brescia's mother, Adele, also spoke.
"It brings us back to the day we received that phone call, the phone call that no parent ever wants to receive, that your child has died," she said. "So it's really difficult for us every single day."
Mangano not only drove away from the scene but circled back to look at the carnage he left behind. He never stopped, never got out to help and never called 911. He did, however, apologize in court.
"I apologize for my actions," he said. "My heart and sympathy go out to the family."
Authorities said the investigation by the New York State Police consisted of collecting fragments of the plastic from the broken mirror at the scene, which led them to the company in Ontario, Canada, that manufactured the plastic mirror. This led to local distributors. which eventually led to the Mangano's employer. E-ZPass and cell phone records were also instrumental in the investigation.
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