Babylon man pleads guilty to fatal Freeport hit-and-run, fled to the Carolinas

A Babylon man who struck a 66-year-old pedestrian in a Freeport crosswalk and kept driving — all the way to the Carolinas — admitted his role Wednesday in the fatal March hit-and-run, prosecutors said.

Michael Bonner, 41, pleaded guilty before Nassau County Judge Caryn Fink to two felony charges — leaving the scene of an incident without reporting resulting in death and tampering with physical evidence.

He is expected to be sentenced Dec. 10 to 1 to 3 years in prison, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said. Prosecutors had recommended two to six years.

Narcizo de Jesus Guerra Lopez was walking in the crosswalk near East Merrick Road and South Main Street about 8 p.m. on March 25 when Bonner’s 2001 Chevrolet Suburban hit him, the DA said. The Suburban was uninsured and unregistered.

Bonner never stopped and kept driving east on East Merrick Road, prosecutors said.

Guerra Lopez was rushed to Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital in critical condition and underwent emergency surgery. He died of his injuries eight days later.

“Michael Bonner struck Narcizo de Jesus Guerra Lopez in the crosswalk and heartlessly left him to die in the street,” Donnelly said. “The defendant methodically attempted to cover his tracks and fled the state, leaving a grieving family behind to pick up the pieces.”

Sticker and foam gave him away

Boner’s Suburban had two features that made it stand out: a large red sticker on the rear windshield and white foam above the rear passenger-side tire, Donnelly said.

Nassau Police detectives combed through surveillance video to track the SUV’s movements before and after the crash, prosecutors said.

About 7:57 p.m., cameras in Oceanside caught Bonner walking to the driver’s side of a vehicle with the same red sticker and white foam, Donnelly explained.

Video also showed the Suburban at a 7-Eleven on Sunrise Highway, less than a mile from the crash site, and Bonner going in and out of the store roughly four minutes before Guerra Lopez was struck.

Additionally, cellphone data put Bonner at the scene at the time of the crash, prosecutors said.

Sometime that night, after the crash, Bonner removed the red sticker from the rear windshield, Donnelly said.

Fled south, then came back

Bonner left New York shortly after the crash and headed south. He was detected in the Carolinas on March 28 and drove back to New York in early April, prosecutors said.

On April 4 — the day after Guerra Lopez died — Hempstead Police officers pulled Bonner over in Nassau County and Nassau Police arrested him about 12:40 p.m.

_{Top: Michael Bonner (Nassau County District Attorney’s Office) and Freeport intersection (Google Maps Street View).}