Quinn Pleads Guilty In Fatal Hit-And-Run

It’s possible Joseph Lynn McAlla, never knew what hit him.

McAlla, a 63-year-old from Clifford, PA, was a workingman. On April 5, 2018 he was making an overnight delivery run, and had just dropped off a load at Southampton Masonry.

Meanwhile, prosecutors said, Chace Quinn, 20, a resident of the Shinnecock Indian Reservation, was barreling down County Road 39 in his Jeep. It was sometime in the middle of the night.

McAlla, crossing the road to get back to his rig, was struck so violently that his leg was severed by the impact. Police said debris was scattered 300 feet and McAlla’s leg was found 70 feet from his body, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini’s office.

New York State Troopers said Quinn, who was the driver of the 2013 Jeep Wrangler that struck and killed McAlla, planned to leave the state to avoid arrest but instead he was taken into custody on May 28, 2018.

Quinn, identified as a member of the Bloods street gang, now faces between eight and 24 years in prison when he is sentenced on June 13, according to the district attorney’s office.

Quinn was hoping to hide out with family in Georgia, authorities said. Instead, on Wednesday, May 8, he pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide in Suffolk County court. The guilty plea includes charges of aggravated vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of an incident resulting in death, intimidating a witness, and driving while intoxicated, all felonies.

“This is a significant conviction of a highly dangerous gang member,” Sini said in a statement. “This case was the result of excellent investigation and collaboration between my office, the Southampton Town Police Department, and the New York State Police.”

rmurphy@indyeastend.com