The Middle Island man who crashed into a stroller carrying a 3-year-old girl on the William Floyd Parkway Monday says he never meant to hit her.

Scott Shea, 30, apologized to Lismar Char's family before he was arraigned on new felony charges of leaving the scene of an accident and an unrelated charge of petit larceny.

As News 12 has reported, the child's mother was pushing the toddler's stroller across William Floyd Parkway when police say Shea slammed into the carriage with his Jeep. News 12 also learned the mother was holding her other daughter, 8-month-old Lupita, when the crash occurred.

Attorney Vincent Trimarco Jr. says that despite one witness's report, Shea was not texting at the time of the incident, but rather was trying to avoid a different accident. He claims another driver cut Shea off right before he hit the stroller.

"He swerved into the left divider on the William Floyd Parkway where the child and the stroller were sitting, stuck between the green light," said Trimarco Jr. He says his client did not flee the scene, but pulled into a nearby lot and waited for police.

Suffolk police say Shea passed through the steady red signal and narrowly missed striking a vehicle that was crossing William Floyd Parkway with a green light. They say he had ample time to stop at the scene.

The 3-year-old girl is recovering at Stony Brook Hospital with a broken arm, cuts and bruises.

Shea, who was on parole for criminal possession and sale of a weapon, has to have a parole hearing before he can be bailed out.