Teen driver in Freeport fatal crash faces charges

Posted

The 15-year-old girl who was behind the wheel in an SUV crash that claimed three lives on the Meadowbrook Parkway on Friday will face criminal charges, police said.

At around 11:42 a.m., police said, a 2005 Chevy Trailblazer was traveling southbound "erratically" and at a high rate of speed between Merrick and Freeport, according to witness reports.

Major David Candelaria, of the New York State Police, said during a news conference that the vehicle veered to the left near Exit M9. The driver, later identified as Cindy Sanchez, 15, overcorrected, and the vehicle overturned several times before coming to a stop in the marsh on the Meadowbrook's western shoulder.

Herbert Leo Aviles Maravilla, 16; Marlon Carbajal, 15; and David Sanchez, 13, all of Uniondale, were killed in the crash, after they were ejected from the car, police said.

Sanchez and the other occupants — Diego Aviles Maravilla, 15, Mayela Flores, 15, Kevin Robles, 16, Lisbeth Menjivar, 16, Walter Ochoa, 17, and Gael Sanchez, 18 months, all of Uniondale, suffered minor injuries.

Police also said that the vehicle was reported stolen in Uniondale.

On Saturday, state police announced that Sanchez was arrested and charged with three counts of second-degree manslaughter and three counts of criminally negligent homicide. She was to be arraigned Monday in Nassau County Family Court.

According to police, the crash is still being investigated.