Perfect: Dem Candidate for NY Attorney General Flees Scene of an Accident

I guess he's trying to burnish his street cred with the thug Democrats or something. Still, it's a good idea if you're running for the job of chief law enforcement officer of a state that you stick around when the vehicle you're riding in causes an accident.

Maybe the driver's identity had something to do with taking off?

A car carrying state Sen. Eric Schneiderman, a Democratic candidate for New York attorney general, sideswiped a parked minivan on Monday evening and then drove away.

Mr. Schneiderman and his driver, a campaign aide who is the niece of Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, did not notify the police nor the owner of the vehicle, which suffered minor damages. Nobody was injured in the incident. While downplaying the incident, the campaign disciplined the driver, 22-year-old Rachel Kagan.

Mr. Schneiderman, a high-ranking state senator from the Upper West Side, is seen as one of the strongest contenders in a crowded field of Democrats vying to succeed Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

A spokesman for Mr. Schneiderman said the lawmaker wasn't aware that his car, which was also dented, had caused any damages until he was contacted the next day by the owner of the minivan, an editor at cable channel NY1, Melissa Rabinovich.

So his vehicle was dented but he figured nothing happened to the other car.

Sure.

The owner of the vehicle isn't buying that rap.

A passing bicyclist who witnessed the incident jotted down Schneiderman's plate number and remained on the scene waiting for the owner of the damaged vehicle, who turned out to be NY1 executive editor Melissa Rabinovich.

She contacted Schneiderman yesterday demanding an explanation.

"He told me he had disciplined the staffer. But he was also insisting that it was just a bump and not a moving violation," Rabinovich said. "I told him, 'Your car was moving and then you drove away. A total stranger realized you damaged my car, but you didn't?' "

Her 2008 Chrysler Town & Country sustained damage to the rear bumper and rear panel and a broken tail light. The station put the repair cost at about $3,000.