DWI Charge After Hit-And-Run On LI Leaves Pedestrian 'Pinned': PD

SELDEN, NY — A Long Island woman has been charged with drunken driving after police say she left the scene of a crash after a female pedestrian was struck in a chain reaction that left her pinned between two cars on Thursday night.

Shaunakaye Vazquez was driving a 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe northbound on Boyle Road at the corner of Liberty Avenue in Selden, at about 10 p.m. when it struck a disabled 2015 Subaru sedan on the shoulder, Suffolk police said, adding that the impact sparked a chain reaction that caused the disabled car to strike a 2012 Jeep Wrangler that was parked in front of it.

The Jeep "pinned a female pedestrian between the two vehicles" and injured two other pedestrians, according to police. Vazquez sped away from the scene in the Tahoe, but was found shortly after the incident, police said.

Nancy Mortello, a 51-year-old Selden resident who had exited the Jeep to help with the disabled Subaru, was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital for treatment of "serious but non-life-threatening injuries," police said.

Mortello's son, 28-year-old Selden resident Douglas Taveras, who had been driving the Subaru when it became disabled, and 26-year-old Selden resident Gabriella Giovinco, who had been a passenger in Subaru, were also transported to Stony Brook for treatment of "minor injuries," according to police.

Juan Vazquez, 42, of Selden, a passenger in the Tahoe, was not injured in the crash.

Vazquez, 39, of Selden, was charged with driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident with serious injury and she is being held overnight for arraignment at First District Court in Central Islip.

The Tahoe was impounded, police said. Detectives are asking anyone with information about the crash is asked to call the 6th Squad at 631-854-8652.