Incident location, Long Island
What Happened
A Hempstead man has been sentenced to up to nine years in prison for a drunken wrong-way crash on the Long Island Expressway that left another driver with serious injuries — a case that began on the night of May 18, 2025, and concluded in a Nassau County courtroom more than a year later. According to Long Island Press, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly announced on Friday, June 12, 2026, that Jorge Arias Reyes had been sentenced to five to nine years in prison for his role in the violent collision near Exit 37 in Roslyn.
On May 18, 2025, Reyes was behind the wheel of a 2009 Honda Odyssey, driving westbound in the eastbound lanes of the Long Island Expressway, prosecutors said. He had been traveling in the wrong direction for several miles before the situation turned catastrophic. According to DA Donnelly, as reported by Long Island Press, Reyes first sideswiped another vehicle before ultimately colliding head-on with a 2014 Toyota Prius near Exit 37. The driver of the Prius, a 51-year-old whose identity was not publicly released, bore the full force of that impact.
The Prius driver was transported to a hospital in Manhasset, where medical personnel determined he had suffered a fractured tibia and a dislocated hip — serious injuries that would require significant medical intervention. Reyes was arrested at the scene. Blood drawn from Reyes at the hospital revealed a blood alcohol content of .26%, according to District Attorney Donnelly — a figure more than three times New York State’s legal limit of .08% for operating a motor vehicle. That BAC level placed Reyes squarely in the category of aggravated DWI under New York law, which applies when a driver’s BAC measures .18% or higher.
Following his arrest, Reyes faced multiple serious charges. In April 2026, he pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular assault, assault, and aggravated driving while intoxicated, according to Long Island Press. The guilty plea paved the way for Friday’s sentencing, at which Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly’s office confirmed the court imposed a term of five to nine years in state prison. Donnelly’s office has been vocal about pursuing serious consequences in DWI cases that result in significant bodily harm to innocent motorists.
The wrong-way driver’s conduct — traveling several miles against oncoming traffic at highway speeds — represents one of the most dangerous scenarios possible on a major freeway. The fact that Reyes sideswiped one vehicle before the head-on collision with the Prius suggests oncoming motorists had little time or space to avoid him. The absence of a fatality in this particular crash, given the circumstances described by prosecutors, is notable; head-on collisions at highway speeds are among the most lethal crash configurations recorded by traffic safety researchers.
Location & Road Context
The crash occurred on Interstate 495, the Long Island Expressway, near Exit 37 in Roslyn — a stretch of one of the most heavily traveled highways in New York State. Exit 37 serves the Roslyn Road area in Nassau County, a section of the LIE that sees significant commuter and commercial traffic in both directions throughout the day and into late evening hours. Our database at Long Island Traffic shows 1,067 recorded incidents on the I-495 corridor, with recent events including a disabled bus on I-495 and multiple crashes and disabled vehicles in just the past two days alone — underscoring how routinely hazardous conditions develop on this road. A wrong-way driver traveling several miles against traffic on this corridor, particularly at night, poses a catastrophic threat to every motorist in those lanes.
For real-time conditions on the LIE and surrounding Nassau County roads, visit our I-495 road page for live updates.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
The legal process in this case moved from arrest to sentencing over the course of roughly 13 months. Reyes was taken into custody on the night of the crash, May 18, 2025, after Nassau County law enforcement responded to the scene on the LIE near Roslyn. Blood drawn from Reyes at the hospital was central to the prosecution’s case, returning a BAC of .26% — evidence that supported the aggravated DWI charge filed against him, according to DA Anne Donnelly as cited by Long Island Press.
In April 2026, Reyes entered a guilty plea to three charges: aggravated vehicular assault, assault, and aggravated driving while intoxicated. On Friday, June 12, 2026, he was sentenced in Nassau County to five to nine years in state prison. The case was prosecuted under the authority of Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly, whose office announced the sentencing outcome publicly. No appeal or additional legal proceedings were mentioned in the DA’s announcement.
Broader Impact
Under New York Penal Law, aggravated vehicular assault — the most serious charge to which Reyes pleaded guilty — is a class C felony when committed in conjunction with aggravated DWI and serious physical injury to another person, carrying a maximum sentence of up to 15 years in state prison. The five-to-nine-year sentence Reyes received reflects the gravity of driving at more than three times the legal limit the wrong way on a major interstate, and serves as a marker for how Nassau County prosecutors are pursuing DWI cases that cause serious bodily harm to other motorists on Long Island’s roads.