Lost woman killed in fatal DWI hit & run:

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DaniJude
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Lost woman killed in fatal DWI hit & run:

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Lost woman killed in fatal hit-run; DWI suspected
BY: ANDREW STRICKLER
January 25, 2009

A Valley Stream woman who was lost and on a cell phone with her boyfriend trying to find the Long Island Expressway died yesterday after her car was struck by an accused drunken driver who then left the scene, police said.

Melissa Scherr, 25, died just after noon at Huntington Hospital from injuries sustained in the early morning collision in Melville, said police, who credit a firefighter responding to the crash with help in the arrest of Douglas Davis, 44.

Davis, who is being held at the Second Precinct in Huntington, is accused of drunken driving and fleeing an accident. The Suffolk County district attorney's office will likely upgrade the charges now that Scherr has died, police said.

Davis, of Centerport, is to be arraigned today in First District Court in Central Islip.

Scherr was lost and getting directions from her boyfriend, Vito Campanelli, on her cell phone as she drove slowly north on Route 110 about 4 a.m., looking for the Long Island Expressway, Suffolk police and her family said. Davis, the lone occupant of a GMC pickup, struck Scherr's Nissan 200SX from behind near the intersection of Schwab Road, throwing her car off the road and into a utility pole, police said.

Scherr was driving to Valley Stream from Campanelli's Kings Park home when she encountered a road closure and got lost, her family said.

Moments after the crash, Davis was spotted in a nearby parking lot, where he got out of his truck, checked the damage and drove away, said Det. Sgt. Bruce Markgraf. At about the same moment, Chris Manganello, 39, a fire dispatcher and volunteer firefighter from Huntington Station, was awakened by an alert of a "heavy rescue" about a mile and a half away on Route 110.

As he rushed out the door of his home, Manganello said he spotted a truck with a broken right headlight and other front-end damage headed down a residential street just north of Jericho Turnpike. Manganello said that he smelled burning rubber and antifreeze coming from the truck.

"I got a slow look inside and saw both air bags hanging out and thought . . . hey, this truck, it's coming from that direction, there is a good chance it's connected," he said.

Manganello jumped in his own vehicle and followed the truck for about half-mile through the neighborhood.

At one point, Davis pulled over, got out and stared at Manganello, who remained in his car "because I didn't know what this guy was going to do."

"He just shrugged his shoulders, like, 'What are you doing?'" Manganello said.

After pulling over a second time, Davis started to walk toward the firefighter but returned to the vehicle after Manganello shouted at him. He continued to follow the truck until it pulled into a driveway on Monett Place.

After Manganello alerted a resident of a nearby home to call 911, two Suffolk officers arrived and later spotted a light go on in a nearby backyard on Hofstra Drive.

Davis was found there hiding behind a tree, said Markgraf. He credited Manganello with the quick arrest.

"This guy really went out of his way to make this happen," he said.

Davis refused to take a Breathalyzer but submitted to a field sobriety test that he failed, police said. Detectives also got a warrant to take blood; the results were not available yesterday.

Davis' truck is registered to Davis Aircraft Products Co. Inc., of Bohemia. A business registry lists Douglas Davis as a vice president. Messages left at the business and at Davis' home were not returned.

Posted 1/26/09 6:12 PM