What to Know
- A driver of a car slammed into a new SUV on Staten Island, got out to look at the damage and kept on going, video shows
- Catherine Córtese said insurance is going to have to front repair costs, and she’s been without a car until $15,000 in repairs are completed
- Córtese said the impact was so loud that it jolted her and her husband out of their sleep
Police are looking for the hit-and-run driver who slammed into a parked SUV, got out and checked the damage on his own vehicle and then drove off as the SUV’s owner stared on in disbelief.
Surveillance footage from the Córtese family’s home in Staten Island’s Arden Heights neighborhood shows the car skidding into Catherine Córtese’s brand-new SUV on early on Jan. 6. Córtese said the impact was so loud that it jolted her and her husband out of their sleep.
“Like an explosion is literally what it sounded like,” she said.
Her husband went to look out the window and saw the driver getting out to look at the damage to his own vehicle. She said the man looked at her husband and said his car looked fine and took off.
Surveillance footage from the scene then shows Córtese’s husband running out after the car as it takes off down Dierauf Street, leaving the damaged SUV just purchased in November behind.
“I’m like, ‘Oh my God,” Córtese said. “It was all over the street, pieces of my car were all over the street.”
Local
Córtese said that her insurance is going to have to front repair costs, and she’s been without a car until $15,000 in repairs are completed.
Anyone with information about the driver should call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS.
