MAHOPAC, N.Y.—A Mahopac family is looking for help identifying an ATV rider who allegedly instigated a rollover traffic accident that left their daughter with a concussion and broken bones in her face. Carmel police are investigating allegations that the ATV rider was a teen playing a game of chicken while riding illegally on the street.
Nineteen-year-old Natalie Corcione says she was driving home in her 2024 Jeep Compass Trailhawk on the night of Nov. 3 when the accident occurred on Baldwin Place Road near Myrtle Ave.
Corcione said she texted her parents that she was heading home from a friend’s house on 6N at around 11:30 p.m. and was on the road for only a few minutes when she encountered an ATV riding illegally on the road—and heading straight at her.
“I wasn’t on Baldwin long,” she told Mahopac News. “I was driving approximately 20-30 mph. All of a sudden, I see brights coming at me. The ATV lights blinded me and [the ATV] was about to hit me head-on.”
Corcione said she lost control of the car and crashed into a tree because she moved to avoid hitting the ATV head-on.
“I swerved to the right and the driver went to my left,” she said. “I went into the tree and the impact flipped the car on its left side. The ATV driver never stopped to see if I was dead or alive—[they] just took off.”
Corcione says she was trapped in the car by the seat belts and the airbags, which deployed on impact. Fortunately, she was able to reach her cell phone and called her father for help, telling him she was trapped in the car and couldn’t breathe. Bystanders came to her aid.
“My father asked me where I was, and I didn’t remember. So one of the men who stopped to help me get out said where I was and my father said he was coming right over with my mom,” Corcione said, “Then I tried to get out of the car, but it was extremely difficult because it was on its side. Two men came running over to my car. It took a bit to get me out of the car.”
She suffered multiple injuries in the crash and was taken to Westchester Medical Centers by ambulance. She is now out of the hospital but will take time to heal.
“I have a concussion,” Corcione said. “I have a fracture of the orbital bone under my right eye and I have a hematoma in my right eye. I have neck pain, back pain, and my entire body is in pain and bruised.”
Carmel PD Chief Anthony Hoffmann said the department is investigating the incident and will provide updates as the investigation allows. Police are reviewing video footage from businesses in the area in an attempt to identify the ATV rider.
“We also encourage local residents to check their home security footage from around the time of the incident,” Hoffmann said.
Town Supervisor Mike Cazzari—who served as police chief before running for office—said young people riding ATVs and dirt bikes are more than a nuisance, they’re a hazard to themselves and others.
“This has been an ongoing issue for years,” Cazzari said “While I haven’t heard of riders playing chicken with cars, ATVs on the road are undeniably dangerous. I can’t understand why parents allow their children to ride off-road vehicles or dirt bikes on public roads. I remember a tragic incident when I was police chief—a young man was killed on Baldwin Place Road after being hit by a car while riding his dirt bike around a corner.”
The alleged game of chicken isn’t the only local report of a person being injured through an ATV encounter. In Yorktown last year, a man was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after confronting an ATV rider for chewing up a town park. Rider Kyle Frankild, 21, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault in July and faces six months in jail.
Natalie hopes witnesses or people with surveillance cameras can help identify the ATV rider.
“I would like anyone in the area to come forward and say who did this to me and how could they have left me there,” she said. “With my dad writing on Facebook [group] Mahopac Families, many have responded to his post and told him they have experienced these ATVs all over the area causing havoc with drivers. …I hope they catch whoever did this to me and prosecute them.”
Natalie’s father Luke posted an account of his daughter’s crash on Facebook and says other Mahopac residents have come forward to say other ATV riders have been causing problems on public roads.
“This has gotta stop,” Luke Corcione said. “My daughter almost died.”
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