NY NY - Judy Feldman, 60, Callicoon, 29 July 2013

[AutumnAkasha]

HIT AND RUN DEATH

Sullivan fatal hit-and-run still under investigation


By Andrew Beam / Times Herald-Record
Posted May 28, 2015 at 8:45 PMUpdated May 28, 2015 at 11:00 PM

CALLICOON - Bill Polyn was worried enough about his girlfriend Judy Feldman’s whereabouts on July 29, 2013 to pick up the phone and dial 911.

Then he heard a knock at the door of their Manhattan apartment.

Authorities told him that someone had run down Feldman, 60, with their car at about 4:15 p.m. as she crossed Bridge Street in Callicoon. The driver kept going.

The crash left Feldman with a traumatic brain injury and in a semi-vegetative state. She never regained the ability to communicate, according to Nancy Taxin, Feldman’s sister.

Finally, when a doctor said she didn’t have the ability to keep fluid out of her lungs, Taxin says everyone knew it was time to make the difficult choice to call in hospice care.

“She’d been suffering too much,” Taxin said. “You want that person to be pain free and have as good a quality of life that she can have.”

Feldman died six months after the hit-and-run.

Polyn, 69, was in a relationship with Feldman for 17 years. He described her as fun, quirky. “I know I’m never going to find somebody like Judy again,” Polyn said.


State Police have not given up on finding the driver who left the scene, but they need help from the public.


That’s why family, friends and other loved ones will meet on Saturday at the Bank of America in Callicoon - near where Feldman was hit - to put up fliers asking for information about the hit-and-run.

“I’m hoping somebody knows something or that it will jog someone’s memory,” said Taxin of the leafleting.

State Police Investigator David Myers has been investigating the case from the start.

Myers said he knows a lot of time has passed since the accident and that people may have forgotten about it.

But he hopes the person responsible sees the flier and realizes what happened to Feldman after she was hit.

State Police are asking people with any information about the crash to contact Myers or Investigator Jeffrey Dalton at 292-6600. Tips can be left anonymously.

“We want people to know it’s a case that’s not been forgotten,” Myers said. “We want to give the family the peace of mind they deserve.”

 

[AutumnAkasha]

Five years later, family presses on in fatal hit-and-run case in Callicoon

By Matthew Nanci
Times Herald-Record
@mattnanci
Posted Jul 28, 2018 at 4:08 PMUpdated Jul 28, 2018 at 8:32 PM

CALLICOON — Nancy Taxin visits Callicoon every year, but unlike for vacationers and seasonal residents it’s not for pleasure — far from it.

Today marks the fifth anniversary of when Taxin’s sister, Judy Feldman, was struck by a hit-and-run driver.

Feldman, 60, was struck at about 4:15 p.m. as she crossed Bridge Street in 2013. She suffered a traumatic brain injury and died six months later.

Each summer Taxin and her family hand out fliers with her late sister’s face on them, hoping to spark a new lead that can bring about the apprehension of the driver.

The family is offering an undisclosed reward to anyone who has information on the identity of the hit-and-run driver.

“No matter how small they think it might be or how trivial it might be, it might mean a great deal to state police,” Taxin said.

In the past, Taxin passed out the fliers in July; this year she did it in June, hoping to reach new people.

“I have to do this for my sister,” she said. “I feel I owe her that much. It would be helpful to me to bring it full circle, but my real focus is I owe it to my sister.”

Her family and state troopers passed out about 300 fliers to businesses and passersby, as well as posted them on utility poles on June 9.



Taxin said the fliers were well received by the community.

“It’s emotionally difficult for me to do this, but the reception by the businesses up there and the people that we’ve talked to is just incredibly supportive and rewarding and the fact that the state police are not giving up, those two things mean a great deal to me,” she said.

State police continue to investigate the hit-and-run. Anyone with information about the crash is asked to contact State Police Investigator David Myers or Investigator Jeffrey Dalton at 845-292-6600. Tips can be left anonymously.

Myers has been involved from the beginning and said the fliers have helped generate leads.

He said the investigation is not “stale,” and every bit of information helps.

“I think that sometimes when you have a case that’s gone on for a long time some people do forget, but this also kind of reminds people of what took place and gets the conversation started,” Myers said.