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What Happened
Benjamin Sheen-Waltzer, 34, of Southampton, pleaded guilty Wednesday to a Class D felony after fatally striking a 67-year-old pedestrian of Hampton Bays with a 2024 GMC pickup truck on Springville Road and fleeing the scene, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney announced.
The crash happened March 6, 2024, at approximately 5 p.m. The pedestrian was walking along the residential roadway pushing a shopping cart filled with glass bottles and cans, part of his regular rounds collecting returnables throughout Hampton Bays, when Sheen-Waltzer’s truck struck him from behind just south of Neptune Avenue on Springville Road, Tierney said.
The force of the impact threw the pedestrian forward. His body came to rest on the shoulder of the southbound lane. The collision also scattered a large debris field of glass bottles and cans across the road, the DA said. He was transported to Peconic Bay Medical Center and pronounced dead shortly after arrival. Sheen-Waltzer did not stop, did not call for help, and drove away from the scene.
Investigators recovered a fragment of the GMC front emblem, the letter “M,” from the crash scene. Surveillance footage from Hampton Watercraft & Marine on Springville Road then captured Sheen-Waltzer’s 2024 GMC pickup with front-end damage, including the missing “M,” according to the DA’s account. Southampton Town Police traced the truck to Sheen-Waltzer’s Southampton residence and found it with the entire “GMC” emblem missing from the front. The “G” and “C” letter pieces turned up later inside a separate vehicle registered to Sheen-Waltzer at his place of employment.
A search warrant executed on the GPS device of the 2024 GMC pickup returned data consistent with Sheen-Waltzer’s path of travel immediately before and after the fatal crash, Tierney said. After a months-long investigation by Southampton Town Police Department detectives, Sheen-Waltzer turned himself in November 2024.
“This defendant cared more about evading responsibility for his criminal actions than rendering aid to the man he struck,” Tierney said. “We will continue to hold individuals like this defendant accountable for fatal hit and runs.”
Location & Road Context
Springville Road is a two-lane residential street in Hampton Bays running through the hamlet in Southampton Town, Suffolk County. The crash site, just south of the Neptune Avenue intersection, sits in a stretch without dedicated pedestrian infrastructure, according to the DA’s description of the pedestrian walking along the roadway rather than a sidewalk. For more on Hampton Bays road incidents, see our recent coverage of the area.
The pedestrian was a regular presence on local roads in his can-collecting rounds. Community members recalled seeing him with his shopping cart throughout Hampton Bays. Some said they set aside cans for him; at least one resident said she drove him to the supermarket on occasion.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
Sheen-Waltzer pleaded guilty Wednesday, September 16, 2026, to leaving the scene of an incident without reporting, a Class D felony, before Acting Supreme Court Justice Anthony S. Senft, Jr. in Suffolk County, Tierney said. The charge covers his failure to stop and report the March 6, 2024, crash.
Sheen-Waltzer is next due in court November 16, 2026. Under New York law, a Class D felony carries a maximum sentence of seven years in state prison.
Broader Impact
The pedestrian’s death drew an immediate and sustained response from Hampton Bays residents. Community members flooded local Facebook pages with tributes, organized contributions toward funeral expenses, and described him as a fixture of the hamlet for years. Cynthia Goldrick said her daughter once ran back to hand him an empty juice box after saying goodbye, non-redeemable, but he took it with a smile anyway. Marion Boden put it plainly: “The man was a fixture in Hampton Bays. Maybe most of us never met him, but we all knew him.”