Cops: Hit-run driver caught after hitting 4 teen girls

A hit-and-run driver mowed down four 16-year-old girls near Roosevelt Field Mall Wednesday afternoon in Carle Place, police said. But he was apprehended and arrested in nearby Garden City — after witnesses told News 12 a so-called “Good Samaritan” followed him, forced him to stop his vehicle, took his keys and called 911.

Elias Garcia, 26, of Clinton Street in Hempstead, was arrested by Garden City police after being stopped on Clinton Road near Stewart Avenue in Garden City. He was initially charged with four counts of endangering the welfare of a child, two counts of second-degree reckless endangerment and reckless driving, as well as vehicle and traffic law violations — including unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.

Later, Garcia was charged with four additional counts of third-degree assault.

Three of the girls were taken to Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola. The fourth, who was the most-seriously injured, was taken to Nassau University Medical Center with a head injury and was admitted in critical but stable condition.

The hit-and-run occurred at 6:17 p.m., police said, as the girls were preparing to cross Old Country Road from the northwest corner of the intersection at Glen Cove Road.

Witnesses told police that the Toyota Camry, which had Massachusetts plates, jumped the curb, struck the girls, knocked two of them down — and caused two to hit the hood of the car. Witnesses told police the car proceeded across several lanes of traffic into the eastbound lanes of Old Country Road, where the two girls fell from the hood and onto the road surface. The driver then fled, witnesses told police.

Police said they could not confirm that Garcia was stopped by a witness.

But, according to reports, a witness to the accident followed Garcia and ordered him to pull over and get out of the car. Steven Loverde from Upper Brookville told News 12 Long Island that he then took Garcia's keys and called 911.

Garcia is scheduled for arraignment Thursday in First District Court, Hempstead.