Woman, 22, fatally struck by hit-and-run drunk driver after refusing to get in his car: cops
A young woman in upstate New York was killed in a hit-and-run by an alleged drunk driver, who was identified as a co-worker with whom she refused to get in the car after a night of drinking.
Madison Faltisco, 22, had been at a bar with a co-worker Thursday night and later refused to get into his car because he was intoxicated, the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office said.
While walking home along Route 57 just before 11 p.m. in the Syracuse suburb of Clay, Faltisco was struck by a car being driven by her co-worker, 23-year-old Joshua Schiano, authorities said, according to CNYCentral.
Within two minutes of hitting Faltisco, Schiano crashed his car into a sign and items in front of a Salvation Army thrift store located less than a mile down the road.
The second crash caused Schiano’s car to burst into flames. He was taken to the hospital in police custody under suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Schiano did not sustain injuries, Syracuse.com reported.
Onondaga County sheriff’s spokesperson Tom Newton said Schiano never told deputies he hit someone while driving Thursday night, so they didn’t know to look for Faltisco.
Faltisco’s body was discovered hours after the crash at about 5 a.m. Friday when someone called 911 to report they found an unconscious woman on the side of the road. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Schiano and Faltisco were co-workers at Smokey Bones, a nearby bar and restaurant.
Halana Sieber, one of Faltisco’s friends and co-workers, said she received three phone calls from Faltisco just before the hit-and-run but didn’t answer them.
While Sieber declined an invitation to join Schiano and Faltisco at a bar earlier in the night, she offered to give them a ride later — which Faltisco declined.
Sieber described Faltisco as a “girl’s girl.” Other friends told CNY Central “she’d do anything for anyone” and had the “biggest heart.”
Faltisco was a graduate of the Institute of Technology at Syracuse Central, part of the Syracuse City School District.
A GoFundMe to pay for Faltisco’s funeral expenses said: “Her bright light was extinguished in seconds.”
Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick said officials were analyzing a video of the tragic crash.
“When we do the analysis of the video … we want to establish exactly where she was walking and did Mr. Schiano change direction or did he just continuously drive in a straight line, did he inadvertently hit her or was it something more insidious,” Fitzpatrick said, according to LocalSyr.com.
Schiano was arraigned Friday night. He faces charges of second-degree manslaughter, second-degree vehicular manslaughter and leaving the scene of a fatal motor vehicle accident.
Officials have not provided details about Schiano’s blood alcohol test results.
