Police: Taxi Driver Killed In Collision With BMW On Hempstead Turnpike
FRANKLIN SQUARE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A 47-year-old taxi driver was killed in a two-car collision on Long Island early Saturday morning, police said.
Nassau County police say Duke Obule, 23, of Queens, was drunk and speeding down Hempstead Turnpike in Franklin Square in a white BMW when he struck a taxi and pushed it across two lanes of traffic into a utility pole.
The taxi driver was killed instantly and the taxi was almost cut in two, WCBS 880's Sophia Hall reported.
A 20-year-old female passenger from the taxi was treated for an ankle fracture.
Police say Obule tried to flee the scene on foot before he was arrested, police said.
Investigators said Obule had no license.
The crash occurred just steps away from the cab business in which the cab driver worked, Hall reported.
"He was a hard working man. Came in early and left late at nighttime. He had two daughters - and now this," Michael Rocher, of Ollie's taxi dispatcher, told CBS2's Brian Conybeare.
Obule was arrested on charges including manslaughter, unlicensed driving and leaving the scene of an accident.
It wasn't clear if he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
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