A seemingly routine night shift for four Con Edison workers in Van Nest turned out to be anything but when they came to the rescue of a hit and run victim.
At 5 a.m. on Saturday, August 6, just as they were wrapping up their day repairing and checking electric cables, Joe Falcone and Admiral Maitland were heading south on White Plains Road. As soon they approached the intersection at Morris Park Avenue things got wild, and the two workers had to change into rescue mode.
According to Falcone and Maitland, a car, which appeared to be a black livery cab, was headed northbound on White Plains Road. As the cab made a right on to Morris Park Avenue, without stopping, the workers said they saw it strike a female pedestrian in the crosswalk, sending her flying into the middle of the roadway. The cab, according to Falcone and Maitland, just kept driving, as they immediately positioned their van to block off traffic and aid the victim.
“There is no way he could not have known he hit her,” said Falcone, a 29-year-old senior field operator and Morris Park resident. “I saw it, and I heard it with the windows closed and the AC on.”
Once they controlled traffic, Falcone and Maitland dialed 911 to report the incident. The victim, who Falcone said appeared to be in her early 30s, had a Cauldwell Avenue address listed on her driver’s license.
She was conscious throughout the ordeal, which lasted about an hour beforeshe was taken by ambulance to a hospital. She was in serious pain, complaining mostly about her left hip and thigh.
“She was writhing, she was screaming in pain,” Falcone said.
Falcone and Maitland, an assistant field operator who lives on Gun Hill Road, did not touch the victim, as per regulation. Within a minute, a second Con Edison truck arrived at the intersection, containing senior field operator Richard Langlois and assistant field operator Hector Soto.
“As soon as we reached the intersection at the scene of the accident we noticed Falcone on the phone in the middle of the street and there was a lady beside him face down in the middle of the street,” said Soto, who has worked for Con Edison since 1974.
The Fire Department was the first on the scene, showing up about five minutes after the report. But, as they got there, a passerby tried to steal her purse.
Both police officers and Fire Department officials repeatedly had to control the crowd and make sure the victim’s belongings stayed with her.
“It was definitely a crazy scene,” said Falcone. “I have never ever seen something like that. Ever.”
No arrest was made in the hit and run.
