DWI Driver Pleads Guilty In Sagtikos Pkwy Crash, Injuring 4: DA

BRENTWOOD, NY — A man pleaded guilty on Monday to driving his car at a high speed rate on Sagtikos Parkway while at three times the legal blood alcohol limit and crashing into a disabled vehicle and its driver — causing both of her legs to be amputated, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced.

Kevin Rosas Daqui, 25, of Brooklyn, pleaded guilty before County Court Judge, the Honorable Steven A. Pilewski for charges of aggravated vehicular assault, aggravated driving while intoxicated, and reckless driving, prosecutors said.

On Nov. 5, at about 12:37 a.m., Rosas Daqui was driving a 2012 Honda Civic to Brentwood with three passengers after spending the evening at the Marine Corps Ball in Westbury, according to the court documents and the defendant’s admissions during his guilty plea.

He was driving southbound on the Sagtikos Parkway at a high rate of speed when he struck a disabled vehicle in the right lane near Crooked Hill Road.

The driver of the disabled vehicle, a 36-year-old Rockville Centre woman, was standing at the rear of the car, attempting to remove a spare tire from her trunk at the time of the crash, prosecutors said.

The impact caused both of the driver's lower legs to be instantly severed from her body.

An off-duty Suffolk County Police officer and his wife treated the drivers shortly after the crash by applying belts as tourniquets to both of her legs, in a successful attempt to stop her from bleeding to death.

The good Samaritan couple stayed with the driver until medical personnel and law enforcement arrived at the scene. She was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital, where she underwent emergency surgery to close the wounds she sustained as a result of the double amputation, prosecutors said.

Two of Rosas Daqui’s passengers also sustained injuries as a result of the crash.

One, who is a member of the United States Marine Corps, was taken to South Shore University Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery for skull and facial fractures and remained in the hospital for 18 days, prosecutors said.

The other passenger was also taken to South Shore University Hospital, where she was diagnosed with a lower spine fracture. The third passenger suffered no injuries, prosecutors said.

Rosasdaqui was also taken to South Shore University Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. A sample of Rosas Daqui’s blood was taken about one hour after the crash, revealing his blood alcohol content was .22 percent — almost triple the legal limit.

“This defendant’s selfish and reckless decision to drink and then drive caused catastrophic injuries to multiple innocent people, one of whom will suffer for the rest of her life,” said Tierney. “With the prevalence of ride hailing apps and taxi services, there is absolutely no excuse for anyone to drink and drive. Because of incidents such as this, my office will continue to aggressively prosecute drunk and drugged drivers to keep our streets safe, and I will continue to fight for tougher drunk driving laws.”

Phillip Jusino, Esq., Rosas Daqui's attorney, told Patch that the crash was a "tragic" situation and that his client "stepped up" and he "did the right thing" by taking a guilty plea.

"It was a very unfortunate incident," said Jusino.

Rosas Daqui will be sentenced on September 14, Jusino said.