'We Are Disappointed': DPW Worker Sentenced For Hit-Run That Killed White Plains Student

A former public works employee has been sentenced for his role in a hit-run crash that killed a beloved 16-year-old boy in Westchester.

Christopher Jack "CJ" Hackett was killed by a hit-and-run driver who worked for the Yonkers Public Works Department, Stephen Dolan.
Photo Credit: *Archbishop Stepinac High School/Google Map street view s*

by Ben Crnic & Kathy Reakes

12/16/2023 10:00 a.m.

Former Yonkers Public Works Department worker Stephen Dolan, age 46, was sentenced on Thursday, Dec. 14 to one and a half to four and a half years in prison for vehicular manslaughter in connection with an August 2022 crash that killed 16-year-old Christopher Jack “CJ” Hackett of Yonkers, according to a report by ABC News.

Earlier Report - DPW Worker Charged For Fatal Hit-Run Crash That Killed 16-Year-Old Stepinac HS Student

On the day of the crash, Aug. 3, 2022, around 12:20 a.m., Hackett was struck head-on by Dolan's cargo van while riding an electric scooter west in the eastbound lanes in the area of the 600 block of McLean Avenue. Dolan then drove away from the scene and a witness called 911.

Arriving first responders soon found Hackett on the ground with severe head injuries and took him to a local area trauma center in critical condition. He died the next day while surrounded by family.

Hackett had been a student at Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains.

Within 36 hours of the crash, detectives successfully found Dolan's van and identified him as the suspect. An investigation revealed that Dolan had consumed alcohol before the incident and had been driving while intoxicated.

Although Dolan will now serve time in prison for the crash, the Westchester County District Attorney's Office expressed disappointment with the length of his sentence.

"We consistently recommended to the Court that the defendant receive the maximum sentence under the law of two and one-third to seven years in state prison for the vehicular manslaughter of the 16-year-old Stepinac High School student," the office said in a statement on Thursday.

The statement continued, "While we are disappointed that the Court’s promised sentence today will not reflect our recommendation, the defendant, Stephen Dolan, is going to prison. Our thoughts remain with the Hackett family and the Yonkers and Stepinac communities.”

According to ABC News, Hackett's aunt, Michelle Kern, said at the sentencing proceedings: "Stephen Dolan you were given a plea deal of one and a half to four and a half years and we were given a life sentence without C.J. Our holidays, birthdays, family gatherings will never be the same. There will always be a missing piece in our family."

Read the full report by ABC News by clicking here.

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