Hawthorne man charged with leaving scene of fatal accident

WHITE PLAINS – A 35-year-old Hawthorne man Friday surrendered to Greenburgh Town Police and was charged with leaving the scene of an accident causing a death, a felony.

The arrest of Scott Desimone stems from a three-month investigation into the hit and run death of Manuel Guaman Saca during the early morning hours of March 1, 2008 on Saw Mill River Road in the vicinity of Hunter Lane in Elmsford.

Saca was discovered by a passing trucker lying in a ditch along the shoulder of the road at 8:40 a.m.

Desimone had rented a Mazda Tribute while his car was in an auto body shop for repair. The investigation revealed that he allegedly struck Saca with the rented vehicle while he was walking to work along Route 9A throwing him into a ditch when he died.

Detectives were able to identify the car from evidence recovered at the scene and later located and seized it.

Desimone was arraigned in Greenburgh Town Court and remanded to the Westchester County Jail in lieu of $7,500 cash or $15,000 bond. If convicted, he faces up to seven years in state prison.

The investigation was conducted by the Greenburgh Police Department in conjunction with the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office and the county Department of Laboratories and Research.