Incident location, Long Island
What Happened
A Cedarhurst man has been arrested and charged with manslaughter nearly two months after a morning collision on a residential Five Towns street killed a North Woodmere father of four, Nassau County Police announced Thursday, May 28, 2026. According to Five Towns Daily Voice, Brayan Romero Flores faces multiple felony and misdemeanor charges stemming from the March 19 crash that claimed the life of community volunteer Moshe Kreindler.
The collision took place at approximately 8 a.m. on Wednesday, March 19, on University Street in Woodmere. Investigators say Kreindler was driving his 2023 Tesla southbound on University Street when he attempted to turn left onto Branch Boulevard. As he executed that turn, he was struck by a 2019 Honda Accord being driven by Romero Flores, according to Nassau County authorities. The impact was severe enough to hospitalize both drivers immediately following the crash.
Kreindler, a resident of North Woodmere, did not survive the injuries he sustained in that collision. He died in mid-April — roughly three to four weeks after the March 19 crash — according to Five Towns Daily Voice. His death transformed what was initially investigated as a serious injury crash into a fatal case, ultimately prompting the Nassau County Police Department to pursue criminal charges against Romero Flores.
Kreindler was a father of four and a figure of considerable standing in the Five Towns orthodox Jewish community. He was widely recognized for his volunteer contributions to local orthodox Jewish organizations, and his death was mourned broadly across the community. According to reporting by Five Towns Daily Voice, a photograph of Kreindler was published by Yeshiva World News following the incident, reflecting the degree to which his loss was felt beyond his immediate family.
Romero Flores, who is from Cedarhurst — a hamlet located just south of Woodmere in Nassau County’s Five Towns area — was taken into custody and charged in connection with the fatal crash. Police announced the arrest on May 28, more than ten weeks after the initial collision. Authorities have not publicly disclosed the specific driving behavior or mechanism that led investigators to determine criminal charges were warranted, but the four charges filed span both intentional recklessness and criminal negligence standards under New York law.
Location & Road Context
University Street in Woodmere is a local residential and commercial corridor running through the heart of the Five Towns area of Nassau County. Its intersection with Branch Boulevard represents a well-traveled crossroads in a dense, community-oriented neighborhood. The Five Towns area — which includes Woodmere, Cedarhurst, Lawrence, Hewlett, and Inwood — is known for its high residential density and active street-level traffic, particularly during morning commute hours. The crash occurred at around 8 a.m., squarely within the peak of the morning rush, when intersection traffic volumes are at their highest. For more on road conditions and incidents in this part of Nassau County, see our Long Island accidents tracker.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
Romero Flores was charged with four counts: second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, second-degree assault, and reckless driving, Nassau County Police announced on Thursday, May 28. His arraignment was scheduled for that same Thursday, according to Five Towns Daily Voice. The charges reflect two distinct legal theories: second-degree manslaughter and second-degree assault address reckless conduct, while criminally negligent homicide addresses a lower threshold of culpability — a pattern prosecutors sometimes use to ensure at least one charge survives judicial scrutiny at trial. The reckless driving charge, a misdemeanor under New York Vehicle and Traffic Law, is the most straightforward of the four and directly addresses the manner in which the vehicle was being operated at the time of the crash.
The gap between the March 19 collision and the May 28 arrest announcement — approximately ten weeks — is consistent with the investigative timeline that typically follows a crash fatality in Nassau County, where detectives must establish cause of death, reconstruct the crash scene, and build a prosecutorial case before charges are filed. No bail information was publicly released at the time of the arrest announcement.
Broader Impact
Second-degree manslaughter under New York Penal Law is a Class C felony, carrying a potential sentence of up to 15 years in state prison. Criminally negligent homicide, a Class E felony, carries a maximum of four years. For drivers across Nassau County and the broader Five Towns corridor, the case is a stark illustration of how a single intersection decision — an attempted left turn during morning traffic — can result in a fatality and ultimately in felony prosecution. Drivers navigating busy community intersections like University Street and Branch Boulevard should be aware that intersection crashes involving turning vehicles remain one of the most common and deadly collision types on Long Island’s local road network.