They found him. Fucker. He'd only been out of jail - where he served time for grand larceny - for five months, and had had several DWIs prior to killing this beautiful woman.
I'm glad they got him. I hope he ROTS.
http://www.newsday.com/mynews/ny-liarre153708751mar15,0,5238053.story
Mastic man accused in teacher's death
BY JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER
STAFF WRITER
March 15, 2004
Six weeks after a mysterious hit-and-run driver left a newlywed schoolteacher dead and her husband injured in Shirley, Suffolk police Saturday arrested a Mastic man who they said crashed into the couple with a stolen Jeep.
The early morning Jan. 31 crash killed JoAnna Berggren, who taught music at Boyle Road Elementary School in Port Jefferson Station, and seriously injured her husband of five months, William Berggren.
Police arrested Chester Cunningham, 39, in front of his home at 2 Wills Ave. Saturday afternoon. Det. Sgt. Timothy Dillon of the Seventh Squad said he could not reveal details of what led police to Cunningham. The investigation is continuing and detectives are asking anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 800-220-TIPS.
The Berggrens, both 29, were just three blocks from the home where they lived with JoAnna's parents when the driver of a stolen Jeep Cherokee ignored a stop sign at the intersection of Tyne and Lexington roads, slamming into the passenger side of their 2001 Mitsubishi Galant. The driver of the Jeep abandoned the vehicle and ran, police said.
JoAnna, who was in the passenger seat, was pronounced dead at Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center. Her husband, who had broken ribs and a punctured lung, was released about a week later from Stony Brook Medical Center.
JoAnna Berggren's brother, Robert F. DeSilva of Mastic, said yesterday the family is relieved. "He couldn't be man enough to stand up to what he did," DeSilva said. "To say, 'Hey listen, I made a mistake.' He didn't do that. He had to be caught. To talk about him makes me sick," DeSilva said.
Cunningham was charged with leaving the scene of a fatal motor vehicle accident and third-degree criminal possession of stolen property, because the Jeep was reported stolen from a Verizon facility in Holbrook, Dillon said.
At his arraignment yesterday, Cunningham pleaded not guilty to those charges in First District Court in Central Islip. He was ordered held at Suffolk County jail in Riverhead in lieu of $25,000 bail. His next court date is Thursday. Cunningham's relatives could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Dillon said Cunningham is a landscaper with several prior driving while intoxicated and larceny arrests. Police did not have the disposition of those arrests available yesterday. Records show he served prison time for grand larceny but it was not clear for how long and when.
Dillon declined to say whether police had any indication that alcohol was involved in the crash. JoAnna's husband was too distraught to speak about Cunningham's arrest, DeSilva said.
DeSilva said he wants his sister remembered as a gifted singer who was devoted to teaching children. She was choir director at St. Jude's Roman Catholic Church in Mastic Beach, where she sang at Mass every Sunday. At her school, she was also drama director. "She put on plays at Boyle Elementary that high schools couldn't do," DeSilva said. "My sister was a lot more than a just a school teacher," he said. "She was a mentor to hundreds of kids. She did nothing but good for everyone."
Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.