Benjamin Sheen-Waltzer pleads guilty to leaving scene of deadly crash in Hampton Bays in 2024

A Southampton man admitted Wednesday to leaving the scene of a 2024 crash that claimed the life of a 67-year-old pedestrian in Hampton Bays, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said.

Benjamin Sheen-Waltzer, 34, pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an incident resulting in death for failing to report the evening crash along Springville Road, prosecutors said in a news release. Angel Asitimbay, of Hampton Bays, was pushing a shopping cart filled with bottles and cans when he was struck and killed, authorities said.

"This defendant cared more about evading responsibility for his criminal actions than rendering aid to the man he struck," District Attorney Ray Tierney said in a statement. "Mr. Asitimbay was left to die on the side of a road with no possible life-saving aid rendered to him."

The district attorney’s office said Asitimbay was thrown forward after being struck by Sheen-Waltzer’s 2024 GMC pickup about 5 p.m. on March 6, 2024, before his badly injured body landed in the southbound shoulder near the Neptune Avenue intersection. The bottles and cans were scattered across the roadway, prosecutors said.

Astimbay was pronounced dead a short time later at Peconic Bay Medical Center in Riverhead.

An "M" from the GMC logo on Sheen-Waltzer’s truck was among the evidence gathered at the scene, prosecutors said. His truck, with the missing letter and front-end damage, was also observed on video surveillance from a nearby business.

Southampton Town Police tracked down the truck at Sheen-Waltzer’s home and found the "G" and "C" letters were removed from his vehicle and stuck inside another vehicle registered to him and parked at his place of employment, prosecutors said.

GPS data obtained from a search warrant showed Sheen-Waltzer’s truck traveled along the path of the deadly crash, according to the news release.

He was indicted in November 2024, records show.

Defense attorney George Duncan, of Islip Terrace, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

Sheen-Waltzer is due back in court for sentencing before acting Supreme Court Justice Anthony Senft Jr. in Riverhead on Nov. 16. Leaving the scene of an incident resulting in death is a felony punishable by up to 7 years in state prison.

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.