Alleged Hit-And-Run Driver Out on Bond; Victim's Mom Hopes To Organize Fundraiser

Almost a week after Riverhead resident Aaron Hartmann was critically injured by a hit-and-run driver, his condition was improving on Friday.

According to Linda Hartmann, Aaron's mother, her son was in stable condition and underwent surgery on his leg Thursday evening. "The doctors told me yesterday that he's very lucky," Hartmann said. "They were able to save his leg."

Concerns still exist, however, about how the leg will heal and whether her son's body will reject the skin grafts.

As her son lies in a hospital bed, Hartmann, who has spent her nights in his hospital room, said she has questions about the accident -- and about the amount of time between when her son was injured and when he received treatment. 

Hartmann said she is also concerned about mounting medical bills; she is unemployed and although her son has insurance, she is fearful there will be costs she is unable to pay.

To that end, Hartmann hopes a fundraiser of some kind might be organized and  said she is reaching out to the community for ideas or assistance.

The woman charged with fleeing from the scene of the crime, Calverton resident Jacqueline Celentano, 21, was released on $30,000 bond on Wednesday, according to police.

Southampton Town police said Celentano was located after detectives identified her as the driver and attempted to arrest her at her residence; she responded to headquarters with her lawyer a short time later and turned herself in, Southampton Town Detective Lisa Costa said.

Costa added that the car involved in the accident was located after police received a Crime Stoppers tip that the vehicle was red. "We combed the neighborhoods block by block in the vicinity of the hit and run location," she said. "We located it at a friend’s house in Riverside off Flanders Road."

Southampton Town Police detectives arrested Celentano on Tuesday for her alleged involvement in the hit-and-run accident that occurred on Sunday on County Road 105 in Flanders.

At 12:51 a.m. on Sunday, Aaron Hartman, 23, was walking home on County Road 105 when he was struck by a vehicle which left the scene, police said. He suffered serious physical injuries and was transported from Peconic Bay Medical Center to Stony Brook Hospital where he is still hospitalized. 

Detectives were able to identify the vehicle involved as a 2000 Chevy Impala. Celentano was charged with leaving the scene of an accident with physical injury, a felony.

After learning that Celentano was charged in the hit-and-run accident that left her son critically injured, Linda Hartmann said she was relieved by the news.

Linda Hartmann said the news brought relief. "I'm happy because it will lessen the stress of not knowing what happened," she said. "I don't feel hatred for the person," she added. Hartmann said she did not know the condition of the driver who struck her son or the circumstances. "I feel sympathy for them, knowing they will now have to go through this, too."

Hartmann added that the arrest did not change anything, though -- her son was still badly injured.

Hartmann sustained injuries including broken bones in his leg, a contusion on his forehead, and fractures in his face; he has a shunt in his skull to relieve pressure from internal bleeding in his brain.

Hartmann said she spent Mother's Day by her son's side. The day was marked by tragedy: 19 years earlier, on the same day, her sister died. Of her son's accident, she said, her voice breaking, "It's terrible."

Her son's hospitalization is his third, Hartmann said; he was alo injured in the past when his jaw was broken in three places.

Hartmann, who has four other children, Danielle Stanchio, Michael Futerko, Jaason Hartmann, and Marcus Jackson, has remained by her son's bedside, although he remains heavily sedated. She has spent time talking to him -- and his aunt has called, to speak to him through the phone -- with the belief that, despite his extensive injuries, he could still hear their voices. 

Hartmann's anguished mother wants answers about what happened to her son on that dark night. "I'm upset. I'm angry. I want to understand what the circumstances were -- why someone left him like that," she said. "Whatever the case may be, they could have at least made a phone call."

Hartmann, his mom said, was excited about his future, ready to start a new landscaping job on Wednesday and eagerly awaiting, with his girlfriend Emily, the birth of their baby girl, who will be named Natalie.

He was also involved with the Salvation Army and American Legion, she said.

"Now, he's going to have to learn to walk again."