Incident location, Long Island
What Happened
An East Setauket man pleaded guilty Wednesday to causing a devastating multi-vehicle crash on the Long Island Expressway while drunk and drugged behind the wheel — a collision that permanently blinded a woman in one eye and injured three other people, according to Three Village Patch.
Matthew Sheehy, 48, of East Setauket, was driving a 2022 Ram pickup truck eastbound on the Long Island Expressway at approximately 12:21 a.m. on Friday, November 15, 2024, prosecutors said. According to court documents and statements Sheehy himself made during his guilty plea, he was speeding and weaving in and out of lanes before he veered onto the right shoulder of the expressway between Exits 62 and 63. There, he slammed into a disabled 2010 Chrysler Town & Country minivan that had been stopped on the shoulder with one person inside, the Patch report states.
The force of that initial collision was catastrophic not just for the Chrysler’s occupant — it also sent the minivan careening from the shoulder into the expressway’s left lane, directly into oncoming traffic. A 2018 Honda CR-V carrying three people was traveling in that lane and had no time to avoid the displaced Chrysler, striking it in a secondary crash, prosecutors said. The chain-reaction nature of the collision meant that a total of four people across both the Honda and the Chrysler were injured in the incident.
The most grievous injuries were sustained by a passenger inside the Honda CR-V. That woman suffered a skull fracture, a brain bleed, and permanent loss of eyesight in one eye, according to prosecutors cited by Patch. The other two occupants of the Honda, as well as the single person inside the Chrysler Town & Country, also suffered injuries serious enough to require medical treatment, though the precise nature of those injuries was not detailed in the court record.
Sheehy himself was transported to a hospital following the crash. It was there that law enforcement officials determined he was intoxicated by alcohol and additionally impaired by drugs, prosecutors said. He was placed under arrest at the hospital. Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney confirmed the charges and the guilty plea Wednesday, issuing a direct statement about the severity of what Sheehy’s choices that night set in motion.
“A woman lost sight in one of her eyes and could easily have died because this defendant selfishly chose to drive like a maniac on the Long Island Expressway that night,” DA Tierney said. “This guilty plea is an important step toward justice for this woman and the three others who were injured.”
Sheehy is represented by attorney Michael Brown, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to Patch.
Location & Road Context
The crash unfolded on the eastbound Long Island Expressway between Exits 62 and 63 in Suffolk County, a stretch of I-495 that runs through the Holtsville area. The Long Island Expressway is one of the most heavily traveled corridors on Long Island, and its shoulder lanes are frequently used by disabled or distressed vehicles — making high-speed, impaired driving through that zone especially dangerous. Our database shows 755 recorded incidents on this road, including multiple crashes in the days surrounding this guilty plea hearing alone, among them a boy airlifted after a car accident on the LIE just the day prior and a separate I-495 crash also on May 19, 2026. The sheer frequency of serious incidents on this corridor underscores the recurring danger that impaired and reckless drivers pose to disabled motorists and passing traffic alike.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
Sheehy pleaded guilty on Wednesday, May 20, 2026, before Acting Supreme Court Justice Philip Goglas in Suffolk County, according to the DA’s office. The charges to which he admitted guilt include aggravated vehicular assault, a felony; driving while intoxicated, also a felony; and three counts of third-degree assault, which are misdemeanors. The case was prosecuted by Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney’s office.
Sheehy is scheduled to return to court on June 30, 2026, for sentencing. At that time, he is expected to receive a sentence of 3 to 9 years in state prison, prosecutors said. The guilty plea encompasses all five counts, resolving the criminal case that stemmed from the November 2024 crash. The related incident report from our own coverage — LI Drunk Driver Admits Blinding Woman, Cracking Skull In Holtsville LIE Crash — also filed May 20, 2026, reflects the same proceeding and guilty plea.
Broader Impact
Under New York State law, aggravated vehicular assault — the top felony count to which Sheehy pleaded guilty — is a Class C felony carrying a potential sentence of up to 15 years, making the expected 3-to-9-year term a significant but not maximum outcome. The case illustrates the particular legal exposure that drivers face when impairment by both alcohol and drugs is confirmed, as the combination of substances can elevate charges beyond a standard DWI and open the door to assault-level felony counts when victims suffer serious physical injury, such as the skull fracture, brain bleed, and permanent blindness documented in this case.