Letters

The hit-and-run accident we experienced last October was like so many events in life that you learn from but don’t particularly want to.

Hit-and-runs can be very tough to bring to trial, and this was a doozy. No license plate identification. No driver identification. No nearby video surveillance, and an event that happened within a few seconds.

In spite of the degree of difficulty, our district attorney’s office pursued the case. We applaud the incredible efforts of the detectives, including Officers Eric Girardin and Warren Galloway, assistant D.A. case leaders Cory Morano and Marissa Edelstein, and the incredible people who aided with the investigation (and testified at the trial at Southampton Justice Court on July 13 and 14), like Officer Ed Henderson, who successfully identified the vehicle make from the side-view mirror found after it broke off on me, and police dispatcher Kristen Kiernan, who took Eric’s frantic 911 call.

All of this was impressive enough. But during the hours that we waited to be called to testify, we had the opportunity to get to know a bit about the people involved, including one of the team leaders, Pat O’Connell, a man of calm and clarity. We learned that Ed Henderson has a background in the arts and is a tattoo as well as a car expert. We learned about Kristen Kiernan’s long career and her devotion to a job in which, as she put it, she always hears from people at their absolute worst.

We met a hardworking multilingual translator, and people behind the desks at the D.A.’s office who balance the massive amount of challenges everyone is constantly facing there.

We’re writing to express our personal sense of gratitude for their service — and, yes, the driver was convicted — but we particularly wanted to share the privilege of seeing the devotion and attention of the people who serve on our streets, in our courts and in the D.A.’s office.

April Gornik

Eric Fischl

Sag Harbor