New City: Jodi Sarf pleads guilty in fatal hit-and-run

Robert Brum | The Journal News

Show Caption Hide Caption Video: Services planned for New City hit-and-run victim Manuel Aguaiza died following a hit-and-run accident in New City on Dec. 19. Clarkstown detectives made an arrest Jan. 29.

A Congers woman charged earlier this year in a fatal hit-and-run is expected to be spared jail time after pleading guilty following an investigation that concluded she didn't cause the crash, according to Rockland District Attorney Thomas Zugibe.

Jodi Sarf pleaded guilty July 5 before Clarkstown Town Justice Howard Gerber to leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death without reporting it, a misdemeanor, according to court records.

Sarf, 48, will be sentenced Oct. 12 and is expected to receive one year of probation, a $500 fine and a six-month license suspension, Zugibe said Tuesday.

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The charges stemmed from the Dec. 19, 2017 accident that claimed the life of Manuel Aguaiza, who was struck about 10:30 p.m. as he was crossing Route 304 at Third Street. He lived just blocks from the site of the accident and had gone out for an after-dinner smoke that night.

The Ecuadoran native known as "Manny" died nearly a month later at Westchester Medical Center.

Zugibe said the evidence didn't support a recommendation of jail time for Sarf.

A Clarkstown Police investigation including an accident reconstruction concluded Sarf was not driving at an excessive rate of speed and wasn't responsible for the accident, Zugibe said. The investigation found no evidence she was driving drunk in her Mercedes-Benz SUV that night.

Zugibe said Sarf was interviewed the following morning by police, who subsequently spoke with all witnesses who were with her during the evening of the accident, including the bartender at a place where she has been with friends, and concluded they could establish no evidence of intoxication.

She was charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident, a felony, on Jan. 30 and was released without bail.

Her lawyer, Robert Gottlieb, did not immediately return messages seeking comment Tuesday afternoon.

Bob Henderson, president of Hendo Contracting, where Aguaiza worked, said he was disappointed in the justice system and Clarkstown police.

"Young adults get pulled over for DWI and receive much bigger sentences. But some people know how to skirt the law," he said in an email.

Phil Henderson, who worked with Aguaiza, said: "In the end there was no justice for Manny, and that is incredibly sad."