Resident Frustrated After Hit-and-Run

When a passing vehicle sideswiped Jordan Levin's truck parked outside his family's house on Walnut Road last week, it wasn't the damage that upset him most.

"They didn't even leave a note," he said. "It wouldn't be so bad if they had the decency to say, 'Hey, I did this.'"

This is the eighth accident involving the family's parked cars since 1991, with five of those occurring since 2001, he said.

Vehicles have swerved far enough over the curb to take out the home's mailbox several times, prompting the Levin's to anchor it 20 feet into the ground with a steel column.

"We never park in front anymore. I only did it this time because the driveway was full," Levin said.

The latest incident occurred between 12 p.m. and 3:45 p.m. on July 31. When police arrived to take his report, Levin said his neighbor across the street came out and said they had seen a white SUV drive off after they heard a loud bang.

The problem, he said, is people running the stop signs at the nearby intersection with Branding Iron Lane. Past accidents have tended to happen at night, but the timing of this one has Levin concerned for students at Gribbin Elementary School, just down the hill from the spot where his truck was hit.

While Levin said he has seen other accidents at the intersection, the Glen Cove Police Department reported that there are none on record for the last three years, although those with minor damage may not have been reported.

Deputy Mayor Maureen Basdavanos also lives on Walnut Road, north of Levin's home and the elementary school. She said she hasn't seen any accidents during her 22 years at her address and doesn't consider traffic violations on the road out of the ordinary compared to other streets, although she noted that she has noticed some patterns of careless driver behavior.

"I have heard cars racing up and down the road on numerous occasions," she said in an email. "It is a wide, straight road, which seems to tempt certain drivers to hit the gas, sometimes disregarding the stop signs altogether."

Levin said he is offering a reward for information leading to the identification of the vehicle that hit his truck. Anyone with a tip may contact Patch to be put in touch with him.