“With realizing that folks have been anxiously ready for a outcome, we needed to be affected person ourselves and guarantee that we totally set up the investigation and develop all of the leads that we might earlier than we made the arrest,” Nielsen stated.
Nielsen stated for weeks after the hit and run, ideas got here pouring in from the neighborhood in regards to the driver behind the green 1956 Ford pick-up truck. The guidelines included his whereabouts to assist authorities piece collectively at the present time that finally led to the hit and run.
Police say Todd Smith, 54, of Canandaigua, was driving whereas intoxicated when he struck Wesley, 62, who was on his scooter, crossing the crosswalk on South Important Road.
“It is a midblock crosswalk, which the Metropolis of Canandaigua has quite a few midblock crosswalks,” Nielsen stated. “They’re clearly marked with marks on the bottom, they usually have signage on either side of the roadway to incorporate within the median as nicely.”
Nielsen additionally stated that given the quantity of visitors and pedestrian visitors, it’s minimal to have accidents of this magnitude.
Whereas the truck did stand out, the difficult half in accordance with Nielsen was discovering it. After a search warrant, legislation enforcement finally discovered the truck hiding in a storage unit outdoors of Canandaigua
“Hopefully we will present the household with an avenue to some closure out of all of this – if that is even doable,” Nielsen stated. “Nevertheless, they did discover an excessive amount of reduction that the arrest was made.”
Past Wesley’s household, the police chief hopes this can assist the neighborhood, too.
“Undoubtedly individuals have been upset,” Nielsen stated. “Mr. Wesley was definitely identified locally, he was a well-known face within the downtown space. The scooter was his technique of transportation. I feel that simply realizing him, realizing his incapacity and his friendliness locally, it made it tougher for individuals.”
Since Smith’s arrest, he has bailed out of the Ontario County Jail over the weekend. Smith faces two felony costs of vehicular manslaughter and leaving the scene of a deadly motorized vehicle accident in addition to a DWI. The date of his county courtroom look is but to be decided.
