CAIRO — The father and family friend of a 16 year-old boy killed 10 months ago by a hit-and-run drunk driver are progressing in their efforts to find justice for their son.
Assemblyman Nader Sayegh, D-Yonkers, introduced a bill entitled “CJ’s Law,” which would require drivers guilty of fleeing an accident that results in a minor’s death be charged with a class C felony and pay a fine of $8,000, in addition to any other penalties provided by law.
CJ’s Law is the product of the efforts of Emmy LaRosa Owen, a family friend of C.J. Hackett, the teen who was killed in August 2022, and Chris Hackett, his father.
Earlier this year, LaRosa Owen contacted Savegh to ask for help getting a law on the books that would impose a more severe penalty for drivers who flee from an accident resulting in a minor’s death. LaRosa Owen and Sayegh drafted the bill, which is being considered by the Committee of Transportation.
The Greene County Legislature passed a resolution at its May 17 meeting expressing support for the bill.
LaRosa Owen said she and Chris Hackett are satisfied with the current draft of the bill and are grateful for the lawmakers’ support.
“Mr. Hackett is very pleased with all the backing of the bill and is grateful to the Greene County Legislature, who gave their full support,” said Owen. “We are looking forward to support from other assembly members as well as the Senate to support this bill on behalf of CJ and all the other victims of a hit and run, and victims of hit and run due to driving while impaired on drugs or alcohol.”
Residents of Greene might know CJ from his job as a waiter at Gavin’s Country Inn, where he worked when he was not in classes at Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains.
On the night of the accident, CJ was riding his electric scooter home after midnight on McLean Avenue in Yonkers when the driver of a cargo van, 46 year-old Steven Dolan of Yonkers, struck him and fled the scene. Security footage taken at a nearby bar shows Dolan drinking before the drive home.
“Detectives from the Major Case Squad and Crime Scene Unit, and accident investigators from the Traffic Unit, responded to the scene and interviewed subjects and witnesses, recovered surveillance video, processed forensic evidence, and reconstructed the accident dynamics,” according to a statement from the city of Yonkers’ website,
After 36 hours, detectives identified Dolan and arrested him when he reported to his job at the Department of Public Works at City Hall. Dolan was booked with a class D felony under New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law for leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident-injury resulting in death.