A West Sayville woman was indicted for allegedly fleeing two separate crashes that left a parked vehicle damaged and a jogger seriously injured.
On May 16 at approximately 4:38 a.m., Heather Foster was driving a 2021 Mazda CX-5 eastbound on Brook Street in West Sayville when she allegedly sideswiped a parked White Honda CR-V, causing significant damage to the driver’s side of the vehicle.
Foster allegedly failed to stop or notify police and continued to drive around the West Sayville area for approximately 50 minutes.
Investigators allege that, at approximately 5:29 a.m., a woman was jogging eastbound along Brook Street when she was struck from behind, allegedly by Foster’s vehicle.
Detectives recovered video surveillance that captured the collision. After striking the jogger, Foster allegedly stopped momentarily to look at the victim lying on the ground unconscious, then returned to her vehicle and drove off. The victim was found by an Uber driver and a passenger, who immediately contacted 911. The jogger was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital, where she underwent numerous surgeries to treat a compound fracture to her left leg, among other injuries.
Police were able to use video surveillance to track Foster’s whereabouts as part of their investigation.
Foster allegedly drove from the scene of the collision to a family member’s home in Medford. She allegedly moved the vehicle later that day to a friend’s home in Bohemia and stored it inside a garage. Several days later, she allegedly moved the car again to her own garage in West Sayville. Detectives of the Major Case Unit of the Suffolk County Police Department traced the defendant’s vehicle back to her home.
On May 20, Foster was taken into custody and the vehicle was seized. Foster’s vehicle had clear front-end damage to the hood and passenger side of the vehicle consistent with both collisions. Pieces from the defendant’s vehicle were recovered from both crash scenes.
Foster, 50, was arraigned on the indictment before Supreme Court Justice Steven A. Pilewski on September 10 for Leaving the Scene of an Incident Without Reporting (Resulting in Serious Physical Injury) and Tampering with Physical Evidence, both Class E felonies, and Leaving the Scene of an Incident Without Reporting (Property Damage), a Traffic Infraction.
Pilewski ordered Foster placed on supervised release and suspended her license during the pendency of the case. The charges are non-bail-eligible under current New York State law.
“Leaving the scene of a crash does not make it go away,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney. “Evidence recovered from both scenes allegedly shows the defendant’s deliberate attempt to evade responsibility for damaging a parked vehicle and seriously injuring a pedestrian. My office will seek to hold this defendant accountable for the charges she now faces.”
Foster is due back in court on October 28 and faces one-and-a-third to four years in prison if convicted of the top count.