Incident location, Long Island
What Happened
A Glen Cove Uber driver was indicted on February 18, 2026, for a fatal drugged driving crash that claimed the life of a 58-year-old Long Island woman in July 2025 on the South Service Road of the Long Island Expressway in North Hills, according to the Nassau County District Attorney. News 12 Long Island first reported the indictment and the details of the arraignment, which took place that same Wednesday afternoon.
The defendant, Nina Varrino, appeared in court for her arraignment on Wednesday, February 18, where she asked the court to be identified as a female and pleaded not guilty to all charges. According to News 12 Long Island, Varrino faces charges of aggravated vehicular homicide, vehicular manslaughter, and a slew of additional counts filed by the Nassau County District Attorney’s office. Her next scheduled court date is March 20.
The crash itself unfolded on the South Service Road of the Long Island Expressway in North Hills, where a 64-year-old man and his wife, Lisa Pelaez, 58, were traveling together on a motorcycle. Prosecutors say Varrino, driving a Kia, allegedly fell asleep at the wheel and struck the motorcycle directly, ejecting both riders from the bike. The force of the collision caused the motorcycle to ignite and go up in flames, according to the Nassau County DA’s account reported by News 12 Long Island.
Lisa Pelaez was rushed to North Shore University Hospital, where doctors treated her for blunt force trauma injuries. She did not survive, succumbing to her injuries approximately two hours after the crash. Her husband, whose name has not been publicly released, sustained catastrophic injuries including broken ribs, a fractured spine and shoulders, and a collapsed lung — injuries consistent with being thrown from a moving motorcycle at roadway speed.
The circumstances leading up to the crash paint a troubling picture, according to prosecutors. Varrino had worked the night prior to the July 2025 crash as an Uber driver. Rather than resting afterward, the DA alleges she spent the remainder of that night partying with drugs and alcohol. Blood testing conducted hours after the crash revealed active levels of both cocaine and Xanax in her system — a combination of a powerful stimulant and a sedative that toxicologists consistently link to severely impaired driving ability, perception, and reaction time.
Warning signs appeared well before the fatal collision. According to the Nassau County DA, more than one hour before she struck the motorcycle, Varrino pulled over to the shoulder of the Cross Island Parkway. Bystanders who had witnessed her driving haphazardly approached her vehicle and explicitly told her she should stop driving and not continue on the road. Despite those warnings, Varrino allegedly got back on the road and eventually made her way to the South Service Road of the LIE, where the deadly crash occurred. After striking the motorcycle and ejecting both riders, prosecutors say Varrino did not stop — she kept driving and left the scene. Nassau County detectives arrested her on Wednesday, February 18, when she was brought before the court for arraignment.
Location & Road Context
The crash occurred on the South Service Road of the Long Island Expressway (I-495) in North Hills, a village in Nassau County’s Town of North Hempstead. The LIE service roads run parallel to the mainline expressway and are heavily used by local commuters and residents as an alternative to the often-congested highway mainline. The stretch near North Hills sits between the Nassau-Queens border and the heart of Nassau County’s central corridor — an area that sees consistent vehicular traffic from morning through late night hours. Prior to the crash on the service road, Varrino had already been observed driving erratically on the Cross Island Parkway, which connects the Queens and Nassau county road networks and feeds into the broader LIE service road system. For ongoing incidents along the I-495 corridor, see our I-495 accident tracker.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
The Nassau County District Attorney’s office secured an indictment against Nina Varrino stemming from the July 2025 crash, with formal charges including aggravated vehicular homicide and vehicular manslaughter — the most serious vehicular crime classifications available under New York State law. Nassau County detectives conducted the arrest on February 18, 2026, the same day as her arraignment. In court, Varrino asked to be identified as a female and entered a plea of not guilty to all counts. No bail information was publicly released in the initial reporting by News 12 Long Island. Her case is next scheduled to be heard on March 20 in Nassau County court.
The DA’s case is bolstered by multiple layers of evidence: blood toxicology confirming active cocaine and Xanax at the time of the crash, witness accounts from bystanders on the Cross Island Parkway who personally warned Varrino to stop driving, and the allegation that she fled the scene after the collision rather than rendering aid to the two injured victims. The involvement of rideshare platform Uber adds an additional dimension to the investigation, as Varrino had been logged in as a driver the night before the crash — raising questions about the hours she was actively on the road before the deadly encounter.
Broader Impact
Under New York State law, aggravated vehicular homicide — the top charge Varrino faces — is a Class B felony that can carry a sentence of up to 25 years in state prison when the offense involves a fatality and evidence of impairment by controlled substances. The combination of cocaine and Xanax found in Varrino’s blood represents what toxicologists describe as a “poly-drug” impairment scenario, which New York courts have historically treated as an aggravating factor in vehicular homicide sentencing. Drivers involved in similar drugged driving fatalities on Long Island have faced the full range of those penalties in recent years, underscoring the severity with which Nassau County prosecutors are pursuing this case.