Sentence In Intentional Hit-And-Run In Patterson

PUTNAM COUNTY, NY — Patterson resident Heather G. Licari will serve four years in state prison for intentionally swerving her car to hit her sister's boyfriend, Putnam County District Attorney Robert V. Tendy announced Monday.

Video surveillance captured Licari in 2019 intentionally swerving her car in order to hit the man, who was walking down his driveway in Patterson, prosecutors said. The head-on impact hurled him into the air and onto an adjacent front lawn. Licari then drove away.

While the impact left the victim with serious injuries requiring surgery, he is “very lucky to be alive” said Tendy.

Licari has an extensive criminal history, prosecutors said. SEE: Incidents at Home Depot in Southeast Lead to Shoplifting Charge

Her father's conviction for arson in Connecticut in 2007 was due mainly to her testimony. According to the Appellate Court of Connecticut:

In January, 2003, Licari entered a drug detoxification program, which required her to miss several weeks of work. Because she failed to inform the [New York City Environmental Conservation] department that she would be missing work, she lost her job at the department. She then moved in with her new boyfriend, Olivier Vanecci, in Vermont. In December, 2003, the Vermont residence in which Heather Licari was living was burglarized. One of the items taken in the burglary was a laptop computer that [her father] had stolen from the department. [Her father] was unable to use the computer because he did not know the password. Heather Licari, however, had a friend who was able to identify the password, and, because she was able to use the stolen computer, she kept it.

In December, 2004, Heather Licari received a telephone call from the New York state police informing her that they had the items taken in the burglary. When she went to retrieve the items, she spoke with two investigators affiliated with the department. The investigators told her that they had spoken with [her father] and that he told them that she had stolen the laptop. She then told the investigators about [her father] burning down his house. She also told them that [her father] had caused a fire that destroyed her automobile in Milford in the summer of 2001 so that she could recover the insurance proceeds and pay off her automobile loan.

Randal Licari, 50, was convicted of arson, larceny and insurance fraud in 2007.

Licari was on probation in Dutchess County when she hit her sister's boyfriend with the car. She was apprehended later that day by members of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office Bureau of Criminal Investigations.

In July, Licari was convicted of Attempted Assault in the First Degree, a class C violent felony offense, and sent without bail to the Putnam County Correctional Facility.

She was sentenced last week.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Nicholas LaStella. District Attorney
Tendy also thanked Senior Criminal Investigator Michael Benvie and Criminal Investigator
Jaemie Caban, also of the District Attorney’s Office, and Investigator Corinne Pitt of the Putnam
County Sheriff’s Office Bureau of Criminal Investigation for their hard work in this case.