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Vehicular Crime Unit

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A pedestrian is in critical condition after a car struck him in the middle of the day in Coram and then fled the scene.

According to the Suffolk County Police Department, the victim, 57-year-old Gary Williams, was walking on the shoulder of Mill Road’s northbound side at 11 a.m. Wednesday when the sedan, which was heading north, hit him.

Detectives are searching for a newer model of a dark-colored, four-door sedan, with damage to both the windshield and the passenger side view mirror, police said.

Williams, a Coram resident, was in critical condition at Stony Brook University Hospital.

Vehicular Crime Unit detectives are investigating the hit-and-run. Anyone with information is asked to call them at 631-852-6555 or to call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 800-220-TIPS.

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A 7-year-old girl’s skull was fractured on Monday night when a driver, who was allegedly on drugs, crashed into a minivan in Hauppauge.

The Suffolk County Police Department said the incident occurred around 7:15 p.m., when 21-year-old Brandon Cumberbatch was driving south on Route 111 just past Kings Highway and hit the minivan, which was moving in the same direction. Inside the minivan were 40-year-old driver Arunima Singh and her two children, 18-year-old Avaneesh and 7-year-old Bhaswi.

After striking the van, police said, Cumberbatch, a Ridge resident, then veered onto the shoulder, over the curb and into the Hauppauge Plaza parking lot, where he hit a parked, unoccupied vehicle.

The family was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital, police said, where Arunima and Avaneesh Singh were treated for minor injuries and Bhaswi was listed in serious condition with a fractured skull and facial injuries.

Police arrested Cumberbatch and charged him with driving while impaired by drugs. He was under observation at St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center in Smithtown and will be arraigned at a later date.

Attorney information for Cumberbatch was not immediately available.

Police impounded both the defendant’s vehicle, a 2002 Chevy Impala, and the 2008 Toyota minivan for safety checks.

Detectives from the SCPD Vehicular Crime Unit are investigating the crash.

Anyone who may have witnessed the crash is asked to call the detectives at 631-852-6555.

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Christopher Campbell mugshot from SCPD

Nearly six months after a Miller Place woman was killed in a hit-and-run crash on North Country Road, police have made an arrest.

Christopher Campbell, 35, of Sound Beach, was arrested on Tuesday after a grand jury indicted him for leaving the scene of a fatal accident, following an investigation by the Suffolk County Police Department’s Vehicular Crime Unit, county District Attorney Tom Spota said.

Campbell allegedly drove the vehicle that struck 40-year-old Tracy Mangino, who was walking on North Country Road, east of Block Island Drive, on Oct. 18. Mangino died of her injuries at John T. Mather Memorial Hospital in Port Jefferson.

Campbell pleaded not guilty to the charge in Suffolk County District Court in Central Islip, Spota said. Judge Fernando Camacho set Campbell’s bail at $50,000 cash, $100,000 bond.

The October crash isn’t the first time Campbell has been accused of leaving the scene. In June 2012, he was arrested and charged with drunk driving and leaving the scene of an accident after he sideswiped a parked car on East Main Street in Port Jefferson. According to Spota’s office, Campbell allegedly tried to flee the scene on foot, but was apprehended by a village constable and Suffolk police officer. The charges are still pending.

Robert Macedonio, Campbell’s Central Islip-based attorney, was not immediately available for comment regarding either case.

At the time of the October crash, police described the vehicle that hit Mangino as a box-type truck, traveling eastbound on North Country Road. Detective Sgt. John Sumwalt, of the Vehicular Crime Unit, said in an October interview that the vehicle was light-colored and that a passing motorist notified police of the incident. He added that detectives were reviewing surveillance footage from the area. And on Tuesday, Spota revealed the strategy was successful.

“Vehicular Crime Unit detectives canvassed the neighborhood and were successful in gathering evidence, including video footage of the driver’s truck leaving the scene,” he said.