Suspect surrenders in hit-and-run death of girl, 11

A surveillance video and a hood emblem from a sport utility vehicle led detectives to arrest a suspect in the hit-and-run death of a Smithtown girl, a prosecutor said Thursday.

The suspect, Maureen Lambert, 20, of Stony Brook, had just finished a court-ordered driver safety course and had a suspended license when her 6,800-pound Chevrolet Avalanche hit Courtney Sipes, 11, Tuesday night.

The impact threw the child "a considerable distance," authorities said. Records show Lambert's history of dangerous driving and personal injury accidents began at age 17.

Turned herself in

She surrendered to police a full day after the accident because Lambert "realized that the noose was tightening around her neck before she turned herself in," Suffolk police Det. Sgt. John Twiname said.

Twiname said Lambert had a passenger in the SUV, and that he is cooperating with the police.

Hands cuffed behind her back, Lambert spoke tearfully during her arraignment in First District Court in Central Islip Thursday morning. The judge ordered her held on $250,000 bail on one felony count of leaving the scene of a fatal accident. If convicted she could face up to 7 years in prison.

>>VIDEO: Click here to see the police commissioner comment on the hit-and-run

A prosecutor told the judge that Lambert is connected to a person or people with a link "to narcotics," but gave no details. Lambert waited more than 24 hours before showing up at the Suffolk Police Fourth Precinct station house, and she was once charged with using a vehicle without the owner's consent, the prosecutor said.

A security video shows the girl crossing the street, being hit by the Avalanche K1500 SUV, and being thrown "a considerable distance in front and to the side," the prosecutor said in court.

Lambert didn't stop, but drove away aggressively and tailgated another vehicle before making an abrupt turn, law enforcement authorities said. She later saw that the impact of the girl's body damaged the truck's grill and a headlight and knocked off the hood emblem, the prosecutor said, maintaining that Lambert was clearly "aware of the fact" that she'd hit someone.

Authorities said Lambert, who was represented by a public defender in court yesterday, left the Avalanche somewhere other than at her family's home, and only after detectives talked to her father did she surrender. She was arrested at 9:32 p.m. Wednesday.

Lambert's record of moving violations and accidents began not long after she got her license, motor vehicle records show. She had two accidents in 2006, in October and December. No details were immediately available Thursday. Also in 2006, she was ticketed for running stop signs, in July and August.

She had another spate of problems this year, motor vehicle records show. In June Lambert was ticketed for an unsafe lane change and tailgating, and though she took an accident prevention course in September, her license was suspended in October because she didn't pay her fines. That suspension was to have been lifted on her 21st birthday, on Sunday. On May 31, she was charged with using a vehicle without the owner's consent, state court records show.

In the courtroom, Lambert said she works as a secretary.

Father offers condolences

Outside the courtroom her father, John Lambert, 59, the SUV's owner, offered condolences to Courtney Sipes' family: "Our heart goes out to them," he said.

A boy who answered the door at the Sipes home yesterday said the family did not want to talk.

On Main Street in Smithtown on Thanksgiving Day a small pile of roses, teddy bears and miniature Christmas trees marked the place where the girl died. A note on one of the stuffed animals said, "God has a new angel. Courtney Sipes. RIP 11.24.09."

With Stacey Altherr