A Merrick teenager who New York State police accused of causing a head-on crash on Ocean Parkway this week now appears to have been trying to avoid the other driver, authorities said.
Police had arrested 19-year-old Cody Becker on charges of reckless endangerment, vehicular assault, driving while ability impaired by drugs and unlawful possession of marijuana.
Troopers initially said that Becker had driven his GMC Yukon westbound over the median and into the eastbound lanes before colliding with a Honda Accord west of Tobay Beach shortly after 8 p.m. Tuesday.
But, police said on Friday that Collision Reconstruction Unit investigators found that the driver of the Accord, 62-year-old Yuk Sung of Oak Beach, was the one who actually drove his car eastbound into the westbound lanes, allegedly causing the crash.
Both drivers swerved in an attempt to avoid one another before colliding head-on in the center median, police said in their revised version of the event described in a press release. The Honda came to rest in the median and the SUV stopped in the eastbound lane, police said.
Sung is being treated for serious injuries at Nassau University Medical Center. Becker and his passenger suffered minor injuries.
A spokesman for state police did not return a call for comment. A spokesman for the Nassau County District Attorney’s office could not immediately say if any of the charges against Becker would be dropped as a result of the new information. Becker’s attorney declined to comment.
Troopers are continuing the investigation and ask any witnesses to contact call them at 631-756-3300.
