Pt. Lookout man charged in Long Beach hit-and-run

Shawn Gallivan, 22, of Point Lookout has been arrested and charged with hitting pedestrian David King, 53, of Long Beach, with his car and leaving the scene without reporting it to police on East Broadway, near Long Beach Boulevard, at about 3:18 a.m. last Saturday. King died of his injuries.

According to the Long Beach Police Department, Gallivan was driving east in the 200 block of East Broadway when he struck King. Police were called to the scene and found King unconscious, bleeding and suffering from head trauma, and he was transported by a Long Beach Fire Department ambulance to the Long Beach Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 3:30 a.m.

At about 4:40 a.m., police found a witness who provided a description of the suspect and his vehicle, LBPD spokesman Bruce Meyer said. The department’s Detective Division, working with the Nassau County Police Department’s Homicide Squad, found Gallivan’s 2005 Ford Focus on the 300 block of East State Street at about 11:15 a.m. Soon afterward, Gallivan was found in the vicinity and charged with leaving the scene of a fatal accident, a Class D felony.

On Sunday, Gallivan was sent to the Nassau County Jail in East Meadow by Long Beach Judge Stanley Smolkin, and on Tuesday he pleaded not guilty and posted a $400,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in Nassau County Court on Nov. 6. His attorney, Oscar Michelen, declined to comment.

Asked if there was evidence that Gallivan, who is a drum instructor at a music school and a graduate of Long Beach High School, was drinking on the night of the accident, Meyer said, “I don’t have the answer to that question, but the investigation is continuing, so if that’s relevant or pertinent to this, I’m sure it will come out later on.”

The traffic fatality was the fourth in Long Beach in the past 14 months. Joseph Shannon, 76, of Florida died two days after he collided with a school bus while riding a bicycle at Monroe Boulevard and East Olive Street in July 2008. On May 15, Evan Potts, 22, of Oceanside drove over and killed Ian Sharrin, an engineer from Long Beach, at West Park Avenue and National Boulevard, in what police believe was a road rage incident. Then, on July 28, John Winter, 51, of Point Lookout was struck and killed by a FedEx truck driving west on East Park Avenue, between Neptune and Roosevelt boulevards.

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