Man Found Guilty In Fatal Hit-and-Run On Southern State

A Farmingdale man was found guilty last Friday in a fatal hit-and-run on the Southern State Parkway in 2015, according to the Nassau County District Attorney's Office.

After a 90-minute deliberation, 39-year-old Wilkens Thelusma was convicted by a jury and faces up to seven years in prison, the DA said.

He is due back before Supreme Court Justice William Donnino on April 21 for sentencing.

On Oct. 15, 2015 Thelusma was driving a gray 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe eastbound on the Southern State Parkway east of Exit 20.

While driving in the left lane, he struck and killed 28-year-old Rick Munoz, who had minutes earlier crashed a stolen box truck into the center median of the parkway and was walking in the lanes of travel, according to police.

Thelusma’s car was damaged on the front passenger side, and the passenger-side- view mirror was broken off the car by the victim's body, the DA said.

He then left the scene, leaving his side-view mirror, as well as other debris from his car, behind.

The New York State Police were able to track the car's debris back to his home in Farmingdale.

There, they found a gray 2012 Hyundai Santa Fe parked behind a fence in the driveway, the DA said.

Munoz's blood and tissue were found on the front and passenger side of the car, including across the passenger-side window, the DA said.

Thelusma surrendered to New York State Police on Oct. 18.

“Hit-and-run collisions continue to plague our roadways and weak laws do not penalize them sufficiently," District Attorney Madeline Singas said. “This driver was involved in fatal crash and simply left the pedestrian to die in the roadway while escaping examination for impairment or intoxication. Our hit and run laws need to change because a driver should not face lower penalties because he fled the scene.”