A Locust Valley man has been arraigned on charges including homicide and manslaughter for allegedly driving drunk and crashing into an ambulette in Glen Cove in 2019, killing the patient inside, according to Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas.
Singas said that on Sept. 1, 2019, at approximately 11:45 p.m., defendant Alvaro Gutierrez-Garcia was allegedly driving a 1997 Cadillac sedan eastbound at a high rate of speed on Forest Avenue in Glen Cove when he struck a private ambulette driving southbound on Walnut Road. The force of the crash caused the ambulette, which was transporting a patient to Glen Cove Hospital, to overturn.
Gutierrez-Garcia did not sustain any injuries during the crash, but his front-seat passenger suffered minor injuries. The emergency medical technician inside the ambulette suffered serious physical injuries, while the ambulette’s driver suffered minor injuries.
Denis Motherway, 85, the patient being treated inside the ambulette, later died of injuries suffered during the crash. Motherway was a retired detective with the New York Police Department whose son, Timothy Motherway, had previously been killed in a drunk driving crash in March 2009.
“[Motherway] bravely served the residents of New York City for 18 years before his life was tragically cut short by an alleged drunk driver,” Singas said in a statement. “My office is committed to aggressively prosecuting every case against people who drink and drive.”
Gutierrez-Garcia, 28, was arraigned on April 30 before Judge Robert McDonald on counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter, aggravated vehicular assault, reckless endangerment, reckless driving, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, and aggravated driving while intoxicated.
Senior district attorneys Lisa Corso and Tara DePalo of the Vehicular Crimes Bureau are prosecuting the case. Gutierrez-Garcia is represented by Jeff Groder, Esq.
