Freeport Man Indicted For Killing 2 In Wrong Way Crash: Prosecutors

MINEOLA, NY — A Freeport man was arraigned on Thursday for a wrong-way drunken driving crash that killed two men in Massapequa Park last year, prosecutors announced.

Juan De Leon Collado, 30, was indicted on multiple charges, including three counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, three counts of first-degree vehicular manslaughter, two counts of second-degree manslaughter, reckless driving and aggravated driving while intoxicated.

Collado pleaded not guilty, and his bail was set at $250,000 cash, $500,000 bond or $2.5 million partially secured bond. He is due back in court Aug. 17.

"Nicholas Berardino and his cousin were returning home from a local diner when the defendant allegedly came speeding at them on the wrong side of the road and crashed head-on into their car," Nassau County DA Anne Donnelly said. "Collado had allegedly been drinking at a local bar before he got behind the wheel. That reckless decision cost two young lives."

On Nov. 6, around 4:30 a.m., Collado was allegedly driving a 2003 Honda CRV westbound in the eastbound lanes of Sunrise Highway in Massapequa Park near Park Boulevard while intoxicated and at a high rate of speed, according to charges.

Collado continued driving in the wrong direction on Sunrise Highway for approximately a half-mile before striking a 2022 Honda Civic head-on driven by a 28-year-old man and carrying 24-year-old victim passenger Berardino.

Collado’s cousin, 29-year-old Amaury Ramirez Lora, who was in the front passenger seat, had to be extricated. He succumbed to his injuries two weeks after the collision, Donnelly's said.

If convicted, Collado faces up to 25 years in prison.