Wantagh Man Pleads Guilty to Aggravated Vehicular Homicide in 2023 Woodbury Crash
Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that a Wantagh man pleaded guilty today to aggravated vehicular homicide and other charges for fatally striking a man in the parking lot of the On Parade Diner in Woodbury in January 2023.
Willem Specht, 63, pleaded guilty before Judge Meryl Berkowitz to Aggravated Vehicular Homicide (a B felony), Assault in the Second Degree (a D violent felony), and Aggravated Driving While Intoxicated (an unclassified misdemeanor).
The defendant is expected to be sentenced to seven to 15 years in prison on September 25, 2024.
“Willem Specht, a recidivist drunk driver with two prior convictions, was more than two times the legal limit for alcohol when he struck and killed Joseph Devito, who was standing outside the On Parade Diner saying goodbye to his lifelong friend,” said DA Donnelly. “Joseph was a husband, a father, a grandfather, and a friend to many. His family has endured immeasurable heartbreak because of this defendant’s reckless and entirely preventable actions. Our thoughts remain with Joseph’s family as his killer faces accountability for this tragedy.”
DA Donnelly said that at approximately 2:30 p.m. on January 18, 2023, 61-year-old Joseph Devito was standing on the sidewalk in front of the On Parade Diner, talking to a high school friend. Specht, who was highly intoxicated at the time of the incident, struck Devito after rapidly reversing his car from a parking spot. Specht narrowly avoided striking Mr. Devito’s friend as well.
Devito suffered catastrophic head injuries and died shortly afterwards at Syosset Hospital.
After hitting Devito, the defendant continued to drive his 2004 Infiniti G35 in reverse and drove over another sidewalk, striking a ramp and a metal fence leading into the diner. He continued in reverse and struck the exterior wall of the diner.
Specht then drove forward and stopped his car in a parking spot in the direction where he originally came from. He exited his car, stood in the diner’s parking lot for a short period of time, and then attempted to leave the scene but was stopped by a witness.
Specht was arrested shortly thereafter by the Nassau County Police Department.
A search warrant for the defendant’s blood taken at the hospital revealed that his blood alcohol content was 0.18% more than three hours after the incident.
The case is being prosecuted by Vehicular Crimes Bureau Chief Michael Bushwack and Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Russell under the supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for the Litigation Division Kevin Higgins. Specht is represented by Steve LaMagna, Esq.