The TIMES of Middle Country
SERVING CENTEREACH
Volume 11, No. 28
Nightmare On Main Street
Also: Minstrel Player’s ‘Back to the Zone’, SCPA’s Classic Movies lineup, Halloween Happenings
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SELDEN
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NORTHERN LAKE GROVE
October 29, 2015
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Stony Brook keeps walkin’ for beauty Photos by Greg Catalano
Above, elected officials and organizers of the Walk for Beauty cut the ceremonial pink ribbon to kick off the festivities. See more photos on page A8.
Setauket doc pleads guilty to fatal hit-and-run BY ELANA GLOWATZ AND PHIL CORSO
All about elections
Everything you need to know about your local candidates ahead of Nov. 3
STARTS ON PAGE A9
A cardiologist has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, drunk driving and leaving the scene of a Smithtown car crash, 16 months after he killed a fellow medical professional and mother of three. The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office announced on Friday that Setauket doctor Thomas Stavola, now 56, will spend two years in prison and five years on probation after last year’s crash, during which his Audi broadsided victim Monica Peterman’s Mercedes at the intersection of Routes 25 and 111. It was shortly before 4 a.m., and Peterman, 45, had been on her way to work as an X-ray technician at St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center. Instead, the Middle Island resident was pronounced dead at that same hospital, where she had worked for
more than 10 years. District Attorney Tom Spota said previously that the doctor, who sustained minor injuries in the crash, left the scene without helping Peterman. “Witnesses who came upon the crash scene said the defendant suddenly left and began walking west on Route 25,” Spota said in a previous statement. “What I found most troubling is the fact that a physician chose not to render any kind of aid or use his cellphone to call 911 to get some assistance for a seriously injured motorist.” The DA said those witnesses gave police officers a description of Stavola, and a sergeant on his way to the scene spotted the man about 500 feet from the crash, walking quickly with his head down. According to the DA’s office, Stavola had a .10 blood alcohol content 90 minutes after
File photo
Thomas Stavola, pictured left, will spend two years in prison and five years on probation.
the fatal incident. The impact of the collision had embedded Stavola’s front license plate into the side door of Peterman’s car. Stavola originally pleaded not guilty to his charges. The victim’s family filed a $20 million civil lawsuit against him last year, saying they hoped it would help make punishments stricter for drunk drivers. But Stavola changed his plea and Peterman’s family supported the two-year sentence and proba-
tion, the DA’s office said. Her husband, Russell Peterman, said in a statement that his family wanted to let go of the anger they felt toward Stavola and realized he deserved another chance “to go back to helping people.” In the courtroom, Peterman’s family members delivered remarks of forgiveness to Stavola, adding that they believed his punishment suited the crime. In their statement, they said they felt Stavola needed to go back to helping others.