Doctor Faces DWI Charge in Crash That Kills Nurse on Her Way to Work

A doctor was drunk when his car crashed into another vehicle in Smithtown early Saturday morning, killing a Middle Island woman, police said. 

According to police, Thomas Stavola, of Setauket, was driving a 2013 Audi north on Route 111 when he struck a 2009 Mercedes at the intersection of E. Main Street shortly before 4 a.m. 

The woman driving the Mercedes–which has been heading west on E. Main Street–Monica Peterman, 45, was transported to St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center, where she died from her injuries, police said.

Peterman was a nurse at St. Catherine's and she was headed there at the time of the crash, News 12 reported. 

Stavola, 54, was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital with minor injuries.

Stavola has been a doctor at North Suffolk Cardiology since 1996, according to the website of the East Setauket-based practice. 

There is a traffic light at the intersection where the crash occurred, but police did not say which driver had the green light.

Vehicular Crime Unit detectives charged Stavola with DWI and he is scheduled to be arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on Sunday.

The vehicles were impounded for safety checks and the investigation is continuing. Police are asking anyone with information on the crash to call the Vehicular Crime Unit at 631-852-6555. 

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