While driving her Ford in Port Saint Lucie, Florida Cathy struck a van and then a truck and failed to stop (we call this either “hit and run” or “LSA” / leaving the scene of an accident) and, like the famous ending line from “Scooby Doo”, Cathy “would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for those damned kids”, er, that damned Ford “SYNC” system…
Ford’s “911 Assist”, which is part of its “SYNC” system, effectively halted Cathy’s escape as it automatically connected her in-car telephone system to police, providing them both her location and details about the accident (information relative to her air bags having deployed).
Cops would ultimately determine that after ramming the side of a truck and a van Cathy had attempted to drive away from the scene incident despite the fact that her airbag had been deployed, and, more importantly, despite Cathy’s attempt to lie to the emergency services about the accident. When she realized that emergency services was on the phone with her Cathy tried to deny to the operator that she had been involved in a car accident, insisting that her car had not been hit. However, apparently this was not the 911 operator’s first rodeo, as she told Cathy that: “Your car wouldn’t call us if someone pulled out in front of you unless there had been an accident”, to which Cathy replied: “No, I would never do that.” (You can listen to the 911 call by clicking here.)
In the meantime, nearby police officers went to investigate why the 911 Assist system had been activated and wen they arrived at Cathy’s home they saw her silver Ford car parked outside the house with a damaged front end and the airbag still inflated. To add insult to injury, and as if she was not in enough trouble for LSA, Cathy made the foolish decision to tell the police that the damage to her car was because she had hit a tree. Naturally she ultimately fessed up, admitting not only to having hit the van and truck (which caused the airbags to deploy and which prompted the SYNC 911 assist call), but she also admitted that at that time she was fleeing another hit and run incident.
Memo to Cathy Bernstein: This does not work….
Memo to the Folks: If you are involved in a traffic accident then stop. You are legally and morally obligated to do so. And if you find yourself in the position of having to explain your actions to the cops then do yourself a favor and don’t. Instead, politely invoke your right to remain silent and advise that you will be happy to talk to them… after you have first spoken to your lawyer and gotten her / his blessing to do so. Cathy committed two (2) felonies – one (1) for each of her LSA’s and then probably earned herself a gratis misdemeanor obstruction or resisting charge for lying. It’s infinitely better to say nothing and to let your lawyer deal with any statement that may be advisable.
https://www.youtube.com/c/michaelhaberlaw / http://habercriminallaw.blogspot.com
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Top notch, very skilled, and highly attentive. Mr. Haber is a fantastic criminal defense attorney. 
- Thanks again. You are second to none when it comes to defending your clients. For that, I thank you
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