A Hempstead man was sentenced Friday to up to nine years in prison for a wrong-way drunken driving crash on the Long Island Expressway in Roslyn that seriously injured another motorist.
According to Nassau County prosecutors, Jorge Arias Reyes, 50, was sentenced to 5 to 9 years in prison after pleading guilty in April to Aggravated Vehicular Assault, Assault in the Second Degree, and Aggravated Driving While Intoxicated.
The crash happened on May 18, 2025, at approximately 7 a.m.
Prosecutors said Reyes was driving a 2009 Honda Odyssey westbound in the eastbound lanes of the Long Island Expressway near Exit 37 in Roslyn. Authorities said he continued traveling the wrong way for several miles, sideswiping one vehicle before crashing head-on into a 2014 Toyota Prius driven by a 51-year-old victim.
The victim was transported to North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, where he was treated for a fractured tibia and a dislocated hip.
Reyes was also taken to the hospital for treatment. According to prosecutors, blood tests conducted at the hospital showed his blood alcohol concentration was 0.26%, more than three times New York’s legal limit of 0.08%.
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said it was fortunate that no one was killed in the crash.
“When Jorge Arias Reyes took the wheel last May, he’d consumed more than three times the legal limit for alcohol and was highly intoxicated,” Donnelly said. “It’s a miracle no lives were lost in this crash.”
Reyes was arrested by Nassau County police shortly after the crash.
The case was prosecuted by the Nassau County District Attorney’s Vehicular Crimes Bureau.
