Orange County News
For Immediate Release                                                                           Contact: Christopher Borek
September 9, 2019                                                                             845.291.3276, 845.238.4245c

          District Attorney Hoovler Announces State Prison Sentence  

In Fatal Mount Hope Hit and Run

Wallkill Man Who Admitted Striking a Woman Walking in Mount Hope 

With Pick-up Truck and Leaving the Scene Without Reporting 

Sentenced to 1-3 Years in State Prison

Body of Deceased Woman Discovered by Passing Motorists 

the Next Morning 

Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced that on Monday, September 9, 2019, Stephen Grundel, 38, of Wallkill, was sentenced by Orange County Court Judge William L. DeProspo, to one to three years in state prison, in connection with the death of a woman who had been walking along the roadway when she was struck by a pick-up truck that Grundel was driving on March 30, 2019, at approximately 11:15 p.m., on State Street, in the Town of Mount Hope.  On June 25, 2019, Grundel had pleaded guilty to Leaving the Scene of an Incident Without Reporting. At the time that Grundel pleaded guilty, he admitted that he knew that the 2000 Silverado pick-up truck that he had been driving had struck a living being and that he had reason to believe that he had caused person injury to a person, but that he failed to stop the truck to see who he had struck and left the scene without either looking to see who he had struck or notifying authorities.  The woman was pronounced dead at the scene after being discovered by passing motorists the next morning.

District Attorney Hoovler thanked the New York State Police and Town of Mount Hope Police Department for their investigation and the arrest of Grundel, as well as the New York State Police Collision Reconstruction Unit for their analysis of the crime scene. 

 “The state prison sentence that my office recommended, and which the judge issued, was clearly appropriate since the defendant left a severely injured and dying woman in the roadway, in the cold, and in the dark, without alerting the police, or calling for help” said District Attorney Hoovler. “Although not all traffic fatalities are criminal, there was no excuse for not stopping and reporting this incident, and making some attempt to save the victim.”

 The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Matthew Ross.