His “reckless choice” forever changed innocent people “who were simply trying to get to their destinations that day,” Suffolk DA says.
LONG ISLAND, NY — A Long Island man, accused of being drunk and high behind the wheel of a speeding pick-up that slammed into an SUV causing a chain reaction crash that hurt four, faces upgraded charges, Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney said.
Matthew Sheehy, 47, of East Setauket, was indicted for aggravated vehicular assault, second-degree assault, and other related charges and was ordered held on $100,000, $200,000 bond, or $1 million partially secured bond pending his next court date on March 12.
If convicted, he faces five to 15 years in prison.
His attorney, Michael Brown of Central Islip, was not immediately available for comment.
Tierney said Sheehy “made the reckless choice to drive while impaired by drugs and alcohol,
forever changing the lives of innocent people who were simply trying to get to their destinations
that day.”
Prosecutors allege that on Nov. 15, at around 12:21 a.m., Sheehy drove eastbound on the Long Island Expressway at a high rate of speed in his 2022 Ram pick-up truck, weaving in and out of lanes before he veered into the right shoulder of the expressway, near Exits 62 and 63, before ultimately crashing into a disabled 2010 Chrysler Town and Country minivan that was parked on the shoulder that had one person inside.
The Chrysler was propelled into the expressway’s HOV lane, came to a stop, and was then struck by a third vehicle, a 2018 Honda CRV, which had three people inside, prosecutors said, adding that one passenger had serious injuries, including the loss of her eyesight in one eye, brain bleeding, and a skull fracture.
Two other people inside the CRV and the person inside the Chrysler had various other injuries requiring medical treatment at local hospitals.
Sheehy was later taken to the hospital where he was placed under arrest after it was determined
he was intoxicated by alcohol and impaired by drugs.
He also faces charges of following charges one count of first-and second-degree vehicular assault, as well as two counts of driving while intoxicated, and two counts of driving while ability impaired by drugs.
Additional charges include one count of driving while ability impaired by the combined influence of drugs or of alcohol and any drug or drugs, as well as three counts of third-degree assault, and one count of second-degree reckless endangerment, and reckless driving.
He has also been charged with moving from a lane unsafely, speeding, and driving on the shoulder, as well as one count of failing to move over, a traffic infraction.
CREDIT: Peggy Spellman Hoey,Patch Staff
