Prosecutor: Wrong-Way Driver In LIE Crash 'Drunk'
NEW YORK (AP/1010 WINS) -- An accused wrong-way driver in a collision on the Long Island Expressway blew into a portable Breathalyzer at the scene and had a blood-alcohol content of .17 , prosecutors said at her bedside arraignment Wednesday afternoon.
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1010 WINS' Mona Rivera reports
That is more than twice the legal limit, according to authorities.
Katelyn A. O'Connell, 22, of Westbury, pleaded not guilty to charges of drunken driving, reckless endangerment and second-degree assault. O'Connell was held on $5,000 bail and was ordered back to court on Friday.
The accident occurred just before 5 a.m. Tuesday, when a vehicle entered the eastbound lanes of 4-lane highway at exit 36 – heading westbound.
The crash occurred just one day after New York City police Officer Andre Menzies, 35, was killed in a wrong-way crash on the Northern State Parkway. Police said the driver that struck Menzies' vehicle was charged with driving while intoxicated and reckless driving.
Both O'Connell and the driver of the other vehicle, a 27-year-old father of three from Queens, were hospitalized with injuries that were not life-threatening. He suffered a fractured ankle, 1010 WINS' Mona Rivera reported.
O'Connell, who was arraigned at Winthrop-University Hospital, appeared very subdued and did not speak during the brief court proceeding.
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