WEST NEW YORK — The Hudson County Sheriff’s Office said that two arrests were made in connection with the alleged hit-and-run accident that took the life of a 7-year-old girl on the way to school in West New York on Monday. The girl was holding her mother’s hand and walking to School No. 1 when a car came around the corner and struck them both. The mother was hospitalized with minor injuries.
The community was sad and enraged by the death. Sheyla Pichardo, 7, was the daughter of Mexican immigrants who both worked nearby.
Officials said at a press conference on Tuesday that they had arrested a couple from Newark in connection with the incident. They said the man, 33, may be an undocumented immigrant from Ecuador. Officials also charged that the man’s girlfriend allegedly tried to report the car to police as stolen the next morning to cover up the incident.
Officials said the suspect was alone in the car at the time of the incident. He was charged with leaving the scene of a fatal hit and run, and his girlfriend was charged with hindering apprehension.
Watch hudsonreporter.com for updates.
Our Digital Archive from 2000 – 2016
