Background: A section of Nashville Road in Bethel, Connecticut (Google Maps). Inset left: Andrew Hitchcock (Bethel Police Department/News-Times). Inset right: Michael Herman Rieve (Danbury Memorial and Cremation Service LLC).
In a tragic incident in Connecticut, a man lost his life after being struck by a vehicle while crossing the street to check his mailbox. The driver responsible fled the scene, leaving the victim helpless, as reported by local authorities.
Andrew Hitchcock, aged 66, faces charges for evading responsibility in this deadly incident, according to court documents accessed by Law&Crime. Prosecutors anticipate that he will accept a plea bargain and receive his sentence shortly, as noted by The News-Times. The victim of this unfortunate hit-and-run has been identified as 65-year-old Michael Rieve.
The incident occurred on September 22, 2025, when Rieve was on Nashville Road in Bethel, Connecticut, where he lived. A white Infiniti G37 allegedly driven by Hitchcock hit him as he was on his way to check his mail. Authorities allege that Hitchcock, returning home from work, failed to stop after the collision or alert emergency services.
Officials state that the driver did not halt at the scene. Rieve was left severely injured for about ten minutes until another motorist discovered him and called for assistance.
Bethel Police Department officers arrived at the location around 8 p.m., quickly determining that Rieve had been hit by a vehicle traveling north, which had already left the scene. Rieve was initially taken to a local hospital and later transferred to another facility, where he succumbed to his injuries the following day.
The arrest warrant for Hitchcock indicates that a Tesla parked at Rieve’s home captured the incident on camera, showing the Infiniti fleeing. Additionally, a side mirror left at the scene matched the vehicle depicted in the video footage.
Investigators then obtained surveillance footage from a nearby gas station that showed a vehicle passing through with an “uneven light” appearing to indicate that a headlight was damaged or destroyed. Police said that as they canvassed the area, they “located a vehicle that matched the description of the suspect vehicle and appeared to have damage and marks consistent with the accident.”
The vehicle was “seized, and a search warrant obtained in which further testing confirmed that vehicle was the vehicle that struck the victim,” police added. Court records say that Hitchcock was arrested on Dec. 6, 2025.
Hitchcock was released on $75,000 bond. During a court appearance on Monday, Hitchcock’s attorney acknowledged that prosecutors made them an offer, and he said he would discuss it with his client, per The News-Times.
The defendant’s next court date is scheduled for June 1.
Rieve’s obituary remembers him as a sailor who had just begun to golf, as a Bethel Fire Department volunteer, but yet whose “greatest passion in life was loving his family, especially his grandchildren.”
