A Pomona woman has been sentenced to state prison after pleading guilty to charges related to a deadly hit-and-run that claimed the life of a 73-year-old pedestrian in Haverstraw.
Rosana DiPaola, 26, was sentenced on Tuesday in Rockland County Court by Judge Djinsad Desir to 1–3 years in state prison. DiPaola had previously pled guilty to the full indictment, which included leaving the scene of an incident resulting in death, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle in the second degree, and circumvention of an interlock device.
The charges stem from a January 26, 2024 incident at approximately 6:30 a.m., when DiPaola, driving a silver Volkswagen Passat on Thiells Mt. Ivy Road, struck pedestrian Daniel Deserio, 73, who was then thrown into a black Jeep Wrangler. DiPaola fled the scene without calling for help or reporting the crash. A license plate that detached from her vehicle at the scene led police to identify and arrest her.
Authorities revealed that DiPaola had a prior DUI conviction from 2018. At the time of the fatal crash, her license was revoked and she was illegally driving without a court-mandated ignition interlock device.
Although the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office requested the maximum sentence of 2⅓ to 7 years, the court imposed a 1–3 year term. The case was prosecuted by Supervising Assistant District Attorney Meghan Garvey and Executive Assistant District Attorney Michael Dugandzic, and investigated by the Town of Haverstraw Police Department with assistance from Ramapo Police.
B”H
She was likely intoxicated and that’s why she fled without summoning help or waiting at the scene. This is such a likely scenario that the law should be changed that there be a rebuttable presumption of driving under the influence – which in this case, could have elevated the charges to either involuntary or reckless manslaughter carried a much weightier sentencing exposure, even absent the driver’s license being suspended for a prior DWI. This time, where it involved a 73 year-old, no one is likely to raise a ruckass; what if the victim was a parent of younger children and/or pregnant? 1 to 3 years for causing a death in such a situation wouldn’t come close to doing justice, would it? Only if the fleeing driver were to prove it was more likely than not that s/he was not under the influence (called a preponderance of the evidence), would such severe additional sanctions not be applied.