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A Brentwood teen who fled the scene of a horrific Wyandanch crash that severed a woman’s legs and injured five other people has been sentenced to up to four years in state prison.
Valdemar Meza-Martinez, 17, received a sentence of 1⅓ to 4 years on Wednesday after pleading guilty to leaving the scene of a crash that caused serious physical injury, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said.
The crash happened about 1:30 a.m. on Aug. 4, 2024, on Patton Avenue, where Meza-Martinez — then 16 and driving without the supervision required by his learner’s permit — slammed a 2010 Nissan Rogue into the rear of a stopped Kia Optima, according to court records. The Kia was pulled over while its occupants were exchanging information with the driver of a Toyota Camry that was stopped directly in front of it.
The force of the impact pushed the Kia into the Toyota, pinning a woman who had stepped out of her vehicle between the two cars to inspect the damage of an earlier collision. Both of her legs were partially amputated in the collision.
Prosecutors said Meza-Martinez got out of his vehicle and ran from the scene as bystanders tried to help the victim. She was airlifted to Stony Brook University Hospital, where surgeons later amputated what remained of both legs.
Five other people — two in the Kia, two in the Toyota and one passenger in Meza-Martinez’s Nissan — suffered non-life-threatening injuries. Police arrested Meza-Martinez outside his Brentwood home about 11 hours after the crash.
Meza-Martinez pleaded guilty in September to leaving the scene of an incident resulting in serious physical injury, a felony. He was sentenced by Acting Supreme Court Justice Karen Kerr to the maximum term allowed under state law.
Tierney said the limited penalty highlights the need for tougher hit-and-run laws in New York, calling the defendant’s decision to flee after inflicting life-altering injuries “completely callous.”
Top: Valdemar Meza-Martinez (SCDA) and GLI file photo.
