Elmont man dies of injuries suffered in hit-and-run, police say

An Elmont man died Tuesday after suffering critical injuries early Friday in a hit-and-run crash as he crossed Hempstead Turnpike in the hamlet, the Nassau County Police Department announced.

Lennox Leonard, 57, was pronounced dead by hospital staff at around 1:15 p.m. Tuesday, according to a police press release.

Leonard had been attempting to cross Hempstead Turnpike on foot just before 7 a.m. Friday near the intersection with Locustwood Boulevard when a westbound 2010 Nissan Pathfinder struck him, police said.

The Pathfinder failed to stop and police later that morning tracked down Oscar Guzman, also of Elmont, the alleged driver of the vehicle, and arrested him, Newsday previously reported. He was charged with leaving the scene of a serious vehicular accident with injury. 

On Saturday, Guzman pleaded not guilty to the charge at his arraignment at First District Court in Hempstead, according to court documents.

When asked Tuesday about potentially upgraded charges for Guzman after Leonard's death, a spokesperson for the Nassau County District Attorney's office wrote in an email: "All the facts and circumstances of the collision are under investigation."

It's the second fatal alleged hit-and-run involving a pedestrian in Nassau County over the past two weeks.

On Monday, Nassau police arrested and charged motorist Yonatan Cohen, 21, of Hewlett, with leaving the scene of a Dec. 18 crash that killed Jeffrey Frank, 74, a long-standing member of the Hewlett Fire Department.

Separately, the Nassau police are continuing to investigate a hit-and-run last Thursday morning in New Hyde Park that sent a 73-year-old woman to a hospital with "non-life-threatening injuries."