Off-Duty FDNY Firefighter Charged with Manslaughter, DWI After Crash
New York Daily News
(TNS)
A 23-year-old BMW driver died in a wild caught-on-camera crash when a Mercedes driver barreling through an apparent red light in Queens T-boned him — and a drunk-driving FDNY firefighter has since been arrested and charged in the death, police said on Wednesday.
Michael Pena, a 28-year-old firefighter, is facing charges of vehicular manslaughter, driving while intoxicated and refusing to take a breath test for the fatal 4:15 a.m. crash at 107th St. and Northern Blvd. in East Elmhurst that killed Justin Diaz.
Chilling surveillance video captures Diaz, behind the wheel of a BMW, heading north on 107th St., but as he approaches Northern Blvd., the sound of a fast-moving car rushing by is heard. Moments later, the speeding Mercedes comes into frame and plows into the driver’s side of the BMW.
Both vehicles lose control and spin violently toward 108th St., where the BMW, now wrecked, crashes into a parked Toyota Sienna minivan along Northern Blvd., the video shows.
A passenger appears to get out of the Mercedes and walk away from the scene as its driver, identified by police as Pena, sits behind the wheel for a moment before also getting out, crossing the street and walking over to the smashed-up BMW.
As Pena opens the driver’s door of the BMW apparently to check on Diaz, a bystander screams, “Yo, n—a! Why you speeding, n—a?”
“Why the f— you speeding?” The witness asks again. “You almost hit me!”
After briefly inspecting the BMW, Pena returns to his car, retrieves his phone, and makes a call, the video shows.
As the accident scene draws more onlookers, two men rush to the wreckage, attempting to assist the critically injured driver. One of them asks, “You good, buddy?” before urgently telling nearby bystanders and Pena, who was already on the phone, to call 911.
Medics rushed Diaz to Elmhurst Hospital Center, but he could not be saved, police said.
Pena was not hurt but was handcuffed at the scene and taken into police custody, cops said. His arraignment in Queens Criminal Court was pending Wednesday night.
According to the FDNY, Pena will be suspended without pay for 28 days while an investigation takes place.
Two passengers in the Mercedes, both also 28-year-old men, were taken to Elmhurst Hospital and expected to recover.
Though the traffic light is not visible in the surveillance footage, the pedestrian signal clearly shows the flashing hand and countdown clock, signaling it was safe for pedestrians to cross Northern Blvd. Diaz entered the intersection with just two seconds left on the pedestrian countdown clock.
A woman who owns a flower shop near the corner came into work later Wednesday morning and noticed people staring at the aftermath of the crash. Curious, she reviewed the store’s security footage — and was left speechless by the shocking and terrifying scene that unfolded.
“It was terrible,” Ada Delfin, 54, said. “My body was shaking. I got nervous. It could happen to me, it could happen to you, it could happen to anyone.”
Despite the shock, Delfin was relieved the crash happened in the early morning, when the streets were nearly empty, rather than later in the day when children would be walking to nearby Public School 330, just three blocks from the crash site.
“Thank God this happened early in the morning when there’s not a lot of people,” Delfin said. “If this happened later in the day, forget about it.”
Diaz lived in Bushwick, according to cops.
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