Riverhead Hit-And-Run Victim In Critical Condition

The future was looking bright for Riverhead resident Aaron Hartmann, 23, who was walking home from a birthday party early Sunday morning when he was hit by a car on Route 105 in Flanders.

The incident, said Hartmann's mother, is believed to be a hit-and-run.

On Monday, her son remained in critical condition and on a respirator at Stony Brook University Hospital, Hartmann said.

The early morning incident Sunday was the second time her son has been hit by a car, she said; two years ago, he was also struck by a hit-and-run driver.

Before Southampton Town police found her son, Hartmann said, "We're not sure how long he was lying there."

According to Southampton Town police, on Sunday, at about 12:51 a.m., Southampton and Riverhead Town police responded to a report of a man in the southbound part of County Road 105 near the bridge in Flanders. Upon arrival, police said the young man had sustained injuries and was found in a disoriented state.

Members of the Flanders Volunteer Ambulance Corps responded for treatment and to transport Hartmann to Peconic Bay Medical Center. Southampton Town police detectives are investigating the incident as a hit and run accident and request that anyone with information should call the detective unit at (631) 702-2230.
    
The road to recovery for her son remains long, Hartmann said: His leg was so badly injured that on Sunday, doctors were unsure if the limb could be saved. By Monday, it seemed that his leg would heal.

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. "Were they drunk? No license? 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." The hope, she added, is that infection does not set in. 

Despite the challenges, there is hope, Hartmann said of her son. "Yesterday, they lightened the sedatives to see if he could move and the nurse asked him to give them a thumb's up. He did."