A stock photo of a shattered windshield.

By Michael Mashburn From Daily Voice

A 64-year-old man was formally charged with fleeing after fatally striking a pedestrian crossing Montauk Highway.

Lloyd Berger, of Copiague, was arraigned in Suffolk County Court Monday, Dec. 1, on charges connected to the alleged hit-and-run that killed 69-year-old Louis Lasula of Massapequa Park.

Prosecutors argued that Berger was driving a Toyota Camry westbound on Montauk Highway around 8:44 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5, when he hit Lasula, who was attempting to cross the roadway. Lasula died at the scene, as Daily Voice previously reported.

Instead of stopping to help or call police, Berger continued driving and went to a friend’s home around the corner from the crash, prosecutors said. Suffolk County Police arrested him two days later at a motel in Lindenhurst.

Berger was indicted on one count of leaving the scene of an incident without reporting, a felony, and one count of aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, a misdemeanor.

Acting Supreme Court Justice Steven Pilewski ordered Berger held on a $1 million bond. If convicted of the top charge, Berger faces 2⅓ to 7 years in prison.

Tierney noted that the fatal crash occurred just hours after another hit-and-run in Suffolk County the same day. “People are being left to die on the road as if their lives don’t matter,” Tierney said. “If you leave the scene, you will be found, and my office will prosecute you.”