'Drinking And Driving Ruins Lives:' Woodmere Man Pleads Guilty After Fatal Crash Killed Cousin: NCDA

ROCKVILLE CENTRE, NY — A Woodmere man pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges related to a 2023 Rockville Centre crash that killed one passenger, the Nassau County District Attorney's Office announced.

Brian Antonio Lopez Cruz, 23, was accused of driving drunk and speeding when he crashed into a tree, which led to the killing of one passenger, his cousin, and injuring another, the DA's office said.

Lopez Cruz pleaded guilty before Judge Tammy Robbins to aggravated vehicular homicide, second-degree manslaughter, second-degree assault, and driving while intoxicated per se, the DA's office said. He is due back in court on Dec. 2, and the NCDA Anne Donnelly recommended a sentence of seven to 21 years in prison, the DA's office said.

"Brian Antonio Lopez Cruz got drunk at a bar, and with an absence of concern for his passengers, recklessly sped until he lost control and careened into a tree," DA Donnelly said. "The damage was catastrophic. Merlin Lopez, the defendant’s cousin, was killed instantly, and another passenger suffered extensive, serious injuries. The defendant himself spent months hospitalized."

She added that there is no excuse for drinking and driving.

"When we say that drinking and driving ruins lives, we are not speaking in hypotheticals," DA Donnelly said. "We see time and again the complete devastation suffered by families who lose loved ones to the selfish actions of others and young defendants like Cruz who forfeit their freedom because of their own irresponsible choices."

On Sep. 17, 2023, at about 4:23 a.m., Lopez Cruz was driving southbound on Peninsula Boulevard in a 2010 Nissan Altima when he lost control of the vehicle, DA Donnelly said.

He was driving at a high rate of speed with two passengers when he lost control, drove off the roadway, and then crashed into a tree on a shoulder, DA Donnelly said.

According to prosecutors, Lopez Cruz's 28-year-old cousin, Merlin Lopez, was killed instantly.

The other passenger, a 32-year-old woman, was taken to NYU Langone Hospital on Long Island with a fractured pelvis and ribs, and a perforated colon, which required "extensive surgery and partial removal," prosecutors said.

Lopez Cruz was transported to the same hospital and sustained head trauma and "significant" internal bleeding, prosecutors said. He had to undergo surgery, the DA's office said.

Upon investigation, it was determined that Lopez Cruz spent hours at a bar in Hempstead earlier that night, where he consumed multiple alcoholic drinks, the DA's office said. His BAC, taken at the hospital within an hour of the crash, was .13 percent, prosecutors said.

He was arrested by the NCPD on Aug. 4, 2025, the DA's office said.

"The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Nicole Vota and Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Laird of the Vehicular Crimes Bureau under the supervision of Bureau Chief Michael Bushwack and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for the Litigation Division Daryl Levy, and the defendant is represented by Joseph Lo Piccolo, Esq.," prosecutors said.