A 20-year-old Manhasset man has been charged in a crash on the Long Island Expressway late Thursday that killed his passenger, Nassau County police said.
Homicide Squad detectives arrested Johnathan Santos Friday and charged him with second-degree vehicular manslaughter and driving while impaired. Santos was scheduled to be arraigned Friday at First District Court in Hempstead.
Police said at least two cars were involved and detectives are investigating the possibility of a third.
The crash occurred near Route 135 around midnight. A police spokeswoman said Santos was behind the wheel of the car that crashed into a guardrail. The force of the collision caused a passenger in the car to be ejected. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Investigators are still waiting on a toxicology report to determine what was in Santos’ system at the time of the crash, the spokeswoman said.
The cause of the crash is under investigation. Police are withholding the victim’s name pending notification of next of kin.
Police had shut down all eastbound lanes of the LIE for several hours overnight before reopening it at 6 a.m.
