Trial under way for suspect in fatal Saugus hit-and-run

SALEM – A Saugus woman charged in a fatal 2010 hit-and-run said on the night of the accident that she thought she had hit somebody while texting and driving but refused to return to the scene, the woman’s friend testified Tuesday.”I walked in and said, ?what’s the problem?’ and she said ?I think I hit somebody,'” Jessica Prizio testified Tuesday in Salem Superior Court during the first day of the trial of Steffany Barbanti.Asked if the defendant told her anything else, Prizio answered, “She was texting.”Barbanti was arrested and charged in January 2012 with leaving the scene of personal injury/death in the Jan. 28, 2010 hit-and-run that killed Christos Agganis, 81, as he crossed the street to his family’s restaurant where he ate his meals.Barbanti, 25, has pleaded not guilty and denies the allegation.Saugus Police said an anonymous tipster led officers to Barbanti after the tipster saw a news report about the two-year anniversary of the incident. The tipster allegedly told police Barbanti was the driver in the crash, that Barbanti had said she had been texting at the time of the accident and that Barbanti had fixed her damaged windshield after the accident. Police said Prizio confirmed these allegations; telling officers Barbanti called and/or texted her several times after the incident and confessed that she had hit somebody when the two women met later at Prizio’s home.But Defense Attorney Alfred Farese Jr. suggested in his opening statement Tuesday that Prizio had an ulterior motive.”Ms. Prizio implicated Barbanti to protect somebody,” Farese said.Essex Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Kirschenbaum called several witnesses Tuesday morning who testified to either witnessing or responding to the scene of the accident, or who said they interacted with Barbanti after the accident.Much of the testimony focused on a discrepancy between police descriptions of the suspect’s vehicle as a dark SUV and Barbanti’s vehicle, a white Acura sedan.Peter Politis, the deceased’s nephew who witnessed the crash, testified he saw a “gray blur” go by and strike his uncle, sending the victim “into the air.”Politis insisted during cross examination he never described the suspect vehicle as dark or as anything other than a gray blur, despite police describing the suspect vehicle as dark and an SUV.Farese again referred to the suspected dark SUV during the cross examination of Prizio. He asked Prizio if she was aware police said they were searching for such a vehicle in the incident. She said she was aware and admitted her boyfriend at the time of the incident drove a dark gray Cadillac SRX that “possibly” might look like an SUV.Prizio testified she never said anything to police about the incident for nearly two years – although knowing, and telling Barbanti, that the victim had died because she didn’t want to get Barbanti in trouble and (Prizio) was scared.”Prizio also said she knew there was a $10,000 cash reward for information about the case. But she testified she had not asked to receive it and did not expect to receive it.Prizio said under cross examination that she was contacted by police who said they had received an anonymous phone call saying she knew something about the fatal hit and run.She also testified under cross examination that police had told her they believed two people were in the car when it struck Agganis and that she could be charged in the incident.Prizio also told Farese she told an ex-boyfriend a few weeks after the incident that Barbanti might be involved. But she testified she didn’t believe police ever interviewed the boyfriend.Testimony Tuesday also focused on the discrepancy among witnesses about the cause of Barbanti’s broken windshield.Prizio’s mother, Jill Prizio, testified Barbanti came over the house and said the damage was caused by a tree branch falling on the car. But Jill Prizio testified Barbanti said this occurred once at Wonderland T Station and another time said it occurred at Wellington train station