Woman Who Killed Bicyclist In DWI Crash Sentenced To Prison: DA

MONTAUK, NY — A Montauk woman who was speeding while drunk with a blood alcohol limit of more than twice the legal limit when she killed a bicyclist in 2019 was sentenced to prison Thursday, Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini said.

Lisa Rooney, 32, pleaded guilty on March 19 to aggravated vehicular homicide, a felony; second-degree manslaughter, a felony; aggravated driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor; and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor, Sini said. She was sentenced Thursday by Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro to three-to-nine years in prison, Sini said.

At 6 p.m. on Oct. 30, 2019, Rooney was driving a 2019 Chevrolet Silverado northbound on Flamingo Avenue in Montauk when she veered into the oncoming lane of traffic then overcorrected, driving onto the shoulder of the roadway on the northbound side and striking a bicyclist, Sini said. Rooney then struck the guardrail on the northbound shoulder and drove up an embankment before the vehicle rolled over, Sini said.

The bicyclist, John James Usma Quintero, 28, of Montauk, was transported to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital where he was pronounced dead, Sini said.

Rooney refused a roadside breath test and refused to submit to a chemical test of her blood; the District Attorney’s Office secured a warrant for a chemical test of Rooney’s blood, which revealed a blood alcohol content level of 0.18 percent three-and-a-half hours after the crash, Sini said.

East Hampton Town Police officers who responded to the scene of the crash recovered several bags of cocaine near Rooney’s vehicle and one bag of cocaine on the floorboard of her vehicle, Sini said.

A forensic evaluation of Rooney’s vehicle revealed that she was driving at a speed of 85 miles per hour at the time of the crash, Sini said.

“Every single time you get behind the wheel of a car while intoxicated or impaired, you assume the risk that you could kill someone,” Sini said. “It’s reckless, it’s selfish, and it’s entirely avoidable. The victim was simply making his way home from work when his life was tragically cut short by this defendant’s actions.”

Rooney was represented by Marc Gann.