Mahopac Family Refutes Police Account of Rollover Accident
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The father of a 19-year-old female who was involved in a rollover accident last month on Baldwin Place Road in Mahopac is refuting the results of an investigation of the crash by the Carmel Police Department.
On Nov. 3 at approximately 11:30 p.m., Natalie Corcione was traveling home from a friend’s house in a 2024 Jeep Compass when she lost control of the vehicle, hit a tree and flipped over.
Carmel police officers and Emergency Medical Services personnel responded to a 911 report of the accident, as did Corcione’s father, Luke, and his wife, after being notified by Natalie.
“We flew over there,” Luke said in a Nov. 26 interview. “We almost hit a deer on the way. She could hardly even talk. She was trapped in the car and couldn’t breathe.”
Two Good Samaritans passing by removed Natalie from the mangled vehicle before anyone else arrived on the scene. She suffered a concussion, a fractured right orbital bone under one of her eyes and a hematoma, along with cuts from shattered window glass.
“I can replace the car. I can’t replace her. She’s the most happy-go-lucky girl,” said Luke, who noted Natalie, who was treated and released at Westchester Medical Center, continues to suffer from double vision and PTSD.
In a press release issued by the Carmel Police on Nov. 25, it was stated that during an initial interview, Natalie told officers she swerved to avoid an animal in the roadway.
“Although no tire marks were observed on the pavement, officers noted off-road damage, suggesting that the vehicle veered off the roadway, collided with a tree and flipped, coming to rest on the driver’s side,” police wrote. “At that time, she was unable to provide additional details about the crash.”
However, police stated that later officers “overheard the driver change her original account and attribute the accident to a bright light which she believed to be an all-terrain vehicle (ATV). It was at this time officers became aware of the possible involvement of a second vehicle.”
Detectives initiated an investigation into the possibility of an ATV being a factor in the crash, including canvassing the area for surveillance footage from roads leading to the accident site.
“While camera footage from the area and the time of the incident was located, no evidence has been found to corroborate the presence of an ATV on the area at the time of the accident,” police concluded. “This case is closed pending further developments.”
Luke vehemently disagrees with the police findings, contending his daughter, a 2023 Mahopac High School graduate, was never interviewed.
“In no way did she say there was an animal. My daughter’s story never changed a bit,” Luke remarked. “By the time my daughter got her composure, that’s when the ATV got blurted out. She knows the sound of an ATV because they are always around our neighborhood. There’s an ongoing problem. They know it and they can’t do anything about it. For them to do this, it’s defamation of character. They’re trying to cover their asses.”
Incidents with ATVs have been on the rise in the area, with one female driver run off the road by two ATV drivers on Nov. 18 in the Red Mills section. Summonses were issued in that case.
“Carmel Police Department continues to take this issue very seriously. We have seen, and our officers have responded to, an increasing number of ATV-related complaints,” police stated. “We have also seen some of these illegally operated ATVs flee our officers, creating a risk to themselves and the public. Investigations have proven successful, resulting in summonses and arrests for the operators and impoundment of the vehicles.”
Luke has reached out to local, state and federal elected officials to enact legislation on the operation of ATVs.
“ATVs cause crashes,” he said. “It’s entitled kids coming from entitled parents.”
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/