Nassau Woman Sentenced For Running Over Neighbor While Drunk

A Garden City woman was sentenced to three to six years in prison on Wednesday for running over her neighbor with her car while drunk last February.

Tara Guinnane, 49, pleaded guilty on Jan. 25 to aggravated vehicular assault, second-degree assault and aggravated DWI. She's now facing years in prison.

“Brian Gormley, a married father of three, had just gotten off the train from work and was walking home on his own street when his intoxicated neighbor changed his life forever,” said Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas. “This DWI defendant did not think about Mr. Gormley or any other innocent person who crossed her path. Brian Gormley will pay the price for this defendant’s criminal decision for the rest of his life. There is simply no excuse for anyone to drive drunk.”

According to Singas, on Feb. 12, 2018, around 6:15 p.m., Guinnane was driving on Wilson Street in Garden City, where she lives, when she struck 50-year-old Gormley, who was walking home from the train station. Neighbors heard the collision and saw Guinnane and her 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee near him. When Garden City police officers arrived, they found Guinnane was drunk and had empty liquor bottles in her car.

Two hours later, Guinnane had a blood alcohol content of .18 -- more than double the legal limit.