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A prominent Staten Island pediatrician accused of mowing down a dad and his 6-year-old daughter before leaving the scene of a January crash paid a $300 fine to make it all go away.
Dr. Sam Leuzzi, 66, of Middletown, N.J., cut a plea deal with the Staten Island District Attorney’s office this month where he receives no prison time — just a fine and community service, court records show.
But the pain lingers for Guy Seth and daughter Zoey, who both suffered traumatic brain injuries, and Malgorzata (Gosia) Seth, the wife and mom who became their caretaker.
leaving the scene of an accident without reporting it, a misdemeanor, cops said. Staten Island Advance
“Dr. Leuzzi destroyed our life on January 9th. We wish we could pay $300 to someone and get our life back!” Guy Seth fumed to The Post.
Leuzzi drove his black GMC truck into Seth and Zoey, who was sitting on her dad’s shoulders while crossing the busy corner of Arthur Kill and Drumgoole roads in Greenridge with the family Yorkie around 5:10 p.m., police said. They were in the crosswalk.
“I would love to know why he [Leuzzi] left the scene of the accident. It just boggles my mind,” said Seth, 52, a former NYPD maintenance worker who still suffers from chronic headaches, double vision, facial numbness and “severe hearing loss” in his left ear.
The crash “permanently harmed my family, resulting in severe physical and psychological damage,” the devastated dad noted during his impact statement at Leuzzi’s Nov. 13 sentencing.
but witnesses told the family Guy Seth — who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs
184 pounds, was walking with 3-foot-6, 38-pound Zoey on his shoulders
and holding her legs, when they were hit by the black truck.
The little girl fractured her skull, requiring surgery and a titanium plate, and the father suffered a “catastrophic, traumatic brain injury,” said family attorney Ravi Batra, who in September filed a notice of claim that he is planning to sue the city Department of Transportation for $101 million.
Leuzzi was arrested the day after the crash and charged with leaving the scene of an accident without reporting it, a misdemeanor, according to the criminal complaint.
“I was driving. I was turning left and I struck a pedestrian, an adult, and child,” the pediatrician later told investigators, according to a complaint. “I did not tell anyone I was the driver, I did not give my information because nobody asked me. I left. I felt terrible what had happened and I was going to go to the police precinct in the morning.”
Leuzzi apologized to the family during his sentencing, but directed his comments towards Judge Lisa Grey and not his victims, the family’s lawyer said.
“Unfortunately, no justice system can sentence Dr. Leuzzi to have the same pain and suffering as the Seth family does for the rest of their life,” Batra told The Post.
told the sentencing judge, “Thank God I did not
die in the accident.”
Leuzzi’s lawyer, Joseph Corozzo, previously insisted his client “remained on the scene tending to both parties and waited for the ambulance to take the father and daughter to the hospital.”
Said Corozzo on the plea deal: “After proving himself remorseful and accepting responsibility for his violation of a class B misdemeanor, Dr. Leuzzi was sentenced to a conditional discharge, $300 dollar fine and a continued order of protection. Dr. Leuzzi’s charged conduct involved his failure to display his license and proof of insurance during the twenty minutes that he remained at the scene of the accident attending to the injured parties.”
Leuzzi, who was indicted on a felony charge for leaving the scene of an accident, pleaded guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of an incident causing physical injury without reporting — a misdemeanor.
He faced up to a year in jail had he gone to trial and been convicted of the top charge.
The Staten Island District Attorney’s office did not return messages.
Leuzzi is not named in the pending suit against the city, whose claim alleges the city Department of Transportation “negligently designed and created the dangerous intersection of Arthur Kill Road and Drumgoole [Road] West.”