Gruesome Roslyn Hit And Run Galvanizes Community

The hunt is on right now for the hit-and-run driver who slammed into a senior citizen and never slowed as the 81-year-old victim — using a cane — crossed her quiet residential street. CBS 2 HD spoke with her grieving daughter on Tuesday.

“You don’t need to see me crying. You don’t need to see my sister crying. We had a big loss, a big loss for the whole community. Because every lady that you see here, they used to say hello and walk together. So she is gone, she went just for a little walk that’s all,” the daughter said.

“A little walk” crossing her quiet street that Vaghar Giae, a frail grandmother, didn’t survive.

Giae was killed Monday evening, ironically on the anniversary of her own father’s death. Nassau Police said force of the impact from the speeding hit-and-run driver sent her body 75 feet down Warner Avenue. There were no skid marks.

“She was an elderly female using a cane, struck by an unknown light colored vehicle possibly an SUV,” Detective Sgt. Richard Laursen said.

“You’d stop for any animals. I’d stop for a dog or a cat, so how could you possibly hit a person and take off?” neighbor Joan Piccardo said.

Giae’s neighbors said her horrible, needless death has galvanized them.

“My children and I are always out here walking, when there’s a stop you think someone’s going to stop. It is scary,” homeowner Sydney Samuels said.

“They just blow right through the stop sign, all the time, constantly,” homeowner Bob Lausen said.

Lausen and others here asked for police units to now monitor the intersection, as cars race towards the train station.

“It’s a road that’s not very wide, and not very well-watched, and it is going towards train station,” neighbor David Scaresteno said.

The victim taught Hebrew school in her youth, was a pillar of the religious community here, and now Chabad of Roslyn, where she often walked to, had to quickly plan her funeral.

“We know the family personally. The woman’s grandchildren come to our Hebrew school,” Rabbi Yaakov Reiter said.

“This woman was a very good woman, very family-oriented, really just out to do the best for everybody,” Devorah Reiter said.

“I feel sorry for the family, but something’s gotta get done. I hope they get the guy,” neighbor Edward Sendlenski said.

Nassau Police are asking residents to be on the look out for a vehicle that’s suddenly hidden under a car cover, or taken to a garage offering cash for a quick auto repair.

The crime has brought back memories of another fatal hit and run in Roslyn Heights when a doctor was killed walking across the street for pizza. That suspect was eventually turned in by neighbors.