Elian Jurado Zavala, a 19-year-old teenager, was arrested on suspicion of fatally running over Nicholas John Puzio and fleeing the scene over the weekend in Long Island, NeY.
Jurado, a Bay Shore resident, pleaded “not guilty” yesterday in connection with the hit-and-run early Sunday morning in Patchogue, Suffolk County.
Detectives say, Puzio, a 25-year-old Farmingville resident, was crossing Medford Avenue at Oak Street around 4 a.m. Sunday when a white sedan driven by Jurado struck him. The district attorney’s office says the teen never stopped.
Puzio was hit again by another driver in a gray Nissan Armada, which has not yet been found. Anyone with information should contact the police.
Jurado’s defense attorney spoke to News 12 after his client entered a “not guilty” plea. “Our investigation so far reveals that the victim at 4 a.m. was intoxicated in the middle of the road,” Robert Macedonio said. “I don’t have all the facts and circumstances of the accident, but again it’s a tragedy every time there is a fatal accident involved.”
Punzio’s friends say they are heartbroken and feel they have lost a brother. They promise to continue to follow the case and hope justice will be served. “He was the kindest person you’d ever meet,” said Vincent Wright.
All charges are mere accusations, and those being prosecuted are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
In early March, also in Suffolk County, 63-year-old Hispanic man Julio Monteiro was killed when a vehicle driven by a woman struck him.
And in February, a woman was arrested on suspicion of running over a 15-year-old man twice with her car in “revenge” because he had allegedly harassed and robbed her son.