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Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Witnesses React to Fatal Memorial Day Hit-and-Run in O.C.

© Matthew Cheswick (Photo courtesy: Friends and family of Matthew Cheswick)


OCEAN CITY, Md.- It was a Memorial Day tragedy in Ocean City. Police say a 22-year-old Maryland man is dead following Monday morning hit-and-run drunk driving crash.

Witnesses describe a group of people crossing Coastal Highway at 54th Street and a north-bound vehicle flying down the road, slamming into one of them: 22-year-old Matthew Cheswick of Cooksville. Cheswick was taken to Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, where he was pronounced dead.
According to police, witnesses stated that the driver sped off but police caught the driver, 30-year-old Diogo Facchini, a short time later.
Facchini, who police said was not injured in collision, was arrested and charged with homicide by a motor vehicle while intoxicated, leaving the scene of a fatal collision, driving under the influence of alcohol, driving while impaired by alcohol and a number of other traffic related charges. Bond information was not immediately available.
The fatal crash struck a nerve with Mike and Pam Hasson.
They have three young girls and a vacation home just feet from where it happened.
"It was horrible," Pam said. "I felt, the first thought that went through my mind was that mom's getting that phone call and that's the worst one to get."

"It's a little sobering," added Mike. "You come down here for a vacation and it makes us think twice. Instead of enjoying every moment, we're a little more careful."

People who spoke with WBOC said Coastal Highway can be very dangerous, especially after dark.
"From the moment I got here, there was people everywhere, cars driving, zooming by, a lot of alcohol involved and people's safety is very important," said German Patino of Queens, NY, who thinks more needs to be done to ensure something like this doesn't happen again.
Patino was visiting Ocean City with friends for the holiday weekend. The group saw the whole tragedy unfold before their eyes.
"You see the kid on the floor, it looked like he got hit from one corner and the car struck him, he got flown over to the other corner and next thing you know, everyone just started running towards him," described Leonardo Moscoso, also of Queens.

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