On Wednesday April 20, 2022, Brysen Tota, age 25, of Kingston, New York, was sentenced by the Honorable Bryan Rounds to the maximum period of imprisonment of one and one-third to four years in prison for his previously entered plea of guilty to the felony of Leaving the Scene of an Accident without Reporting Serious Physical Injury in connection with hitting a 62 year old Accord man on Whittfield Road in the Town of Rochester and fleeing the scene. When police arrived on scene the victim was unconscious and had to be transported to Westchester Medical via helicopter.
The evidence established that defendant fled the scene and went to pick up a friend at Newark airport. Defendant had also been indicted for the felony of Tampering with Physical Evidence for taking his car to a Hoffman car wash in an attempt to clean it of any evidence from the accident. The victim’s DNA was found on defendant’s vehicle after it was impounded by the police.
The case was investigated by the New York State Police Ellenville barracks. The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Paul Derohannesian. The defendant was represented by attorney Mikael Cohn of the Ulster County Public Defender’s Office.