Residents and Town Officials Struggle With Hit and Run Case

As police probe the hit and run accident that killed 82-year-old Jayaraman Krishna as he stood at his son's mailbox residents and officials are grappling with the case's high profile and perceived delays in the investigation.

A state crime lab is analyzing evidence taken from the 2008 Infiniti QX56 involved in the accident, and police have said it could take "months or years" for the results to come back. The timing of that critical portion of the investigation is out of their hands, police officials say.

That's not what some townspeople want to hear.

First Selectman Jeb Walker said he has received multiple calls and e-mails from residents. "I've tried to be responsive as best as I could," he said. "I understand their frustration and share their frustration, but I've learned to stay out of police procedures. They have their standard operating procedures, and my concern is do they follow them?"

"I'm getting calls from people demanding that this woman be arrested and thrown in jail," he continued. "The process is working its way. I would rather have it take the time it takes and have it be right than have the prosecutor and police rushing and not getting the right charge and the right evidence in place. We want the right process lined up, to make sure that whatever this person is charged with sticks."

J Krishna, the victim's son, says the slow process is "painful" for his family.

"I know the police are doing what they have to do and will release what they have at some point," he told Patch.

Selectman Rob Mallozzi also said he's heard from residents.

"I've gotten e-mails and people stopping in the street to talk to me," Mallozzi said. "Basically they are frustrated that police have not arrested anyone yet. And also extremely disappointed in the fact that the person has not come forward."

Stories posted on Patch about the incident have elicited a number of comments from readers. The writers express sympathy for the Krishna family, concern about the pace of the investigation, and dismay that the driver's actions might say something unpleasant about our community.

Walker said he had hoped to bring a sense of "civility" and personal responsibility to New Canaan when he became first selectman. "I have failed," he said. "I admit that I have not been effective getting that sense of 'we're all in this together.' It's not partisan. It's not political. It's a sense of dignity, pride and ownership of what makes this town special."

Krishna said the lack of accountability is what's most difficult for him and his family.

"The fact of the matter is we all should have our first duty towards decency and our conscience," he said. "That's the part that's affecting people as much as it's affecting me."

Tom Scheuer, 82, was riding his bicycle on the morning of May 20 when he was struck by a hit and run driver and thrown 15 feet. Scheuer spent three weeks at Norwalk Hospital, including a week in the intensive care unit, his wife Ann, 78, said. "He suffered bleeding on the frontal lobe of the brain and his left leg was nearly severed," she said. "They determined it was about 8:50 when she hit him, but he wasn't found until 10:30. If he had been on a blood thinner he would have been dead."

Ann Scheur said she thinks there's been a "breakdown in what's right and wrong."

"There for the grace of god go all of us," she said of the driver who hit her husband. "I'm sure it was an accident. But to leave a person shows me she has absolutely no decency. I mean you don't hit a squirrel without stopping."

Mallozzi said people are disappointed that the driver in the Krishna case hasn't come forward.

"It seems like there's no sense of responsibility in the town," he said.