Nassau Man Pleads Guilty In Fatal 2022 High-Speed Crash

MINEOLA, NY — A Hicksville man pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide in connection with a June 2022 high-speed crash that killed a 48-year-old man and seriously injured his wife, Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly said Thursday.

Oscar Argueta, 37, also pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter and driving while intoxicated.

He is expected to be sentenced to five to 12 years in prison at his sentencing in February.

Donnelly's office is recommending a sentence of seven to 21 years in prison.

“Oscar Argueta was drunk and driving 93 miles an hour in an SUV when he plowed into the Popoola family’s Mercedes, killing husband, David, and seriously injuring his wife,” Donnelly said. “The force of the crash was so great that the victim’s vehicle was launched into a nearby utility pole."

"There’s no excuse for drunk driving when there are cab services and ride-sharing apps available with one swipe on a cellphone," she added.

On June 26, 2022, at around 1:40 a.m., Argueta was traveling northwest on Greenwich Street in Hempstead in a Dodge Durango while intoxicated and driving at a high rate of speed when the vehicle t-boned a Mercedes Benz G300 crossing the intersection on Curtis Avenue, prosecutors said.

The victims’ vehicle struck a curb causing the car to flip into a utility pole, prosecutors said, adding that 48-year-old David Popoola, who was the passenger, and his wife, were trapped inside the vehicle after the collision.

Popoola was pronounced dead at the scene, and his wife was taken to Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital with serious physical injuries before undergoing emergency surgery on her wrist.

Argueta was arrested by Hempstead police.

Patch has reached out to his attorney, Dennis Lemke of Mineola.