Woodmere man pleads guilty to charges for fatal 2023 crash in Rockville Centre

A Woodmere man has admitted to driving drunk and causing the September 2023 crash that killed his 28-year-old cousin and seriously injured another passenger in his car. Brian Antonio Lopez Cruz pleaded guilty Tuesday at Nassau County court to aggravated vehicular homicide, manslaughter, assault and driving while intoxicated. He is due back in court on Dec. 2, where he is expected to be sentenced to five to 15 years in prison, prosecutors said. On Sept. 17, 2023, Lopez Cruz was driving southbound on Peninsula Boulevard in a 2010 Nissan Altima with two passengers at a high rate of speed when he lost control of the car, drove off the road, and crashed into a tree in a wooded area on the western shoulder, prosecutors said. Merlin Lopez was killed instantly and another passenger suffered a fractured pelvis and ribs, and a perforated colon, which required extensive surgery and partial removal. Lopez Cruz sustained head trauma and significant internal bleeding and required surgery