Mineola, NY - February 12, 2019 - Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced that a Garden City woman pled guilty to Aggravated Vehicular Assault and other charges for running over a man while driving drunk in February 2018.
Tara Guinnane, 48, pled guilty before Judge Meryl Berkowitz to Aggravated Vehicular Assault (a C felony), Assault in the Second Degree (a D violent felony) and Aggravated Driving While Intoxicated (an unclassified misdemeanor). The defendant is due back in court on March 25 and is expected to be sentenced to two to six years in prison.
“The defendant was intoxicated – more than twice the legal limit – when she drove an SUV and struck a pedestrian as he walked home from the train station,” DA Singas said. “Because of her actions, the victim suffered a traumatic brain injury and spinal cord injury – injuries he has not fully recovered from. Drinking and driving is entirely inexcusable and this case is a reminder that there are serious consequences for people who endanger pedestrians in Nassau County.”
DA Singas said that on February 12, 2018, at approximately 6:15 pm, the defendant was driving while intoxicated on Wilson Street in Garden City when she struck a 50-year-old male pedestrian. The defendant and victim both lived on Wilson Street, and the victim was walking home from the train station at the time of the incident. Neighbors heard the collision and saw the defendant and a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee near the injured victim. When Garden City Police Officers responded to the scene, they observed that the defendant was intoxicated and found empty liquor bottles in the defendant’s car.
Two hours after the incident, the defendant had a BAC of .18 – more than twice the legal limit.
Senior District Attorney Christopher Casa and Assistant District Attorney Charles Dunn of DA Singas’ Vehicular Crimes Bureau are prosecuting this case. James Pascarella, Esq. represents the defendant.