EHTPD: NYC Man Drunk, Other Driver Injured

An allegedly drunk driver operating a late model Jeep Cherokee rented from Hertz at “a high rate of speed” crashed into another vehicle under the narrow Long Island Rail Road trestle on Stephen Hands Path Tuesday night, August 27. According to the police report, the driver of the other vehicle, listed as East Hampton resident Ruben Calle, was medevacked to Stony Brook University Hospital, suffering from internal chest pain.

The alleged drunken driver was John Allen McKinney, 25, who has two addresses, one in Manhattan, the other in Fort Wayne, Indiana. According to an eyewitness, who was trailing the other vehicle in the crash, a 2011 Hyundai that was headed north, the southbound McKinney swerved into the stony wall of the underpass to his right, then ricocheted off of it, right into the Hyundai. Calle could not be interviewed by the police, due to his injuries, and had to be extracted from his car by the East Hampton Fire Department “White Knights” heavy rescue company.

McKinney reportedly told police that he had had two drinks and was on his way to gas up the Jeep when the accident occurred. At police headquarters, a breath test allegedly showed the percentage of alcohol in McKinney blood to be .21 of one percent, well over the .08 reading that defines intoxication, and high enough to raise the misdemeanor driving while intoxicated charge McKinney is facing to the aggravated level. Beside the DWI charges, McKinney was also written up for driving at an “imprudent speed,” and making an unsafe lane change.

Calle was not charged with any moving violations that would have caused the accident but was charged with being an unlicensed driver.

McKinney was held overnight and released the next day on $500 bail.

t.e@indyeastend.com