What Happened
Suffolk County Police arrested Cristian Guevara, 28, of Manorville, on drug-impaired driving and drug possession charges after his vehicle struck a pedestrian standing on the eastbound Long Island Expressway near Exit 50 in Melville at approximately 5:50 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 13, 2026, according to RiverheadLOCAL.
Paven Putt Bhat, 27, of Center Moriches, had been driving a 2025 Nissan Altima eastbound in the HOV lane when his car struck the median, police said. Bhat got out of the Altima to check the vehicle for damage. Guevara’s 2019 Honda Civic, traveling eastbound, then struck Bhat.
Bhat was transported to Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip with serious injuries, police said. No fatalities were reported.
Guevara’s passenger, John Hurtado-Conde, 31, of Flanders, was also present in the Honda at the time of the crash. Police found narcotics on both men, according to RiverheadLOCAL.
Suffolk County Police charged Guevara with driving while ability impaired by drugs under New York Vehicle and Traffic Law, criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree, criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, and two counts of criminal use of drug paraphernalia in the second degree. Hurtado-Conde was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree, criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, and two counts of criminal use of drug paraphernalia in the second degree.
Both men were held overnight at the Suffolk County Police Department’s Third Precinct. They were scheduled for arraignment at First District Court in Central Islip on Sept. 14, 2026.
Location & Road Context
The crash occurred on the eastbound LIE near Exit 50, the Half Hollow Road interchange in Melville, Suffolk County. The HOV lane where Bhat’s Nissan struck the median runs along the expressway’s left-side median barrier in that stretch.
According to Long Island Traffic’s incident registry, this crash is one of 96 recorded incidents on the LIE in the past 30 days and the 472nd on the corridor so far in 2026. The most recent prior fatal crash on the LIE recorded in the registry occurred Aug. 26, 2026. Saturday night also produced a cluster of LIE incidents in the same corridor, including a separate crash that closed eastbound lanes near Exit 49N and another two-man arrest following a serious LIE crash the same morning.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
Suffolk County Police’s Third Precinct handled the arrest. Guevara faces five charges in total; Hurtado-Conde faces four. Both were arraigned at First District Court in Central Islip on Sept. 14, 2026, per RiverheadLOCAL. No bail information was included in the police account.
The drug-impaired driving charge against Guevara falls under New York VTL § 1192.4, which covers impairment by a drug other than alcohol. That is a separate provision from VTL § 1192.2 (BAC 0.08 or higher, alcohol-based DWI) and VTL § 1192.2-a (aggravated DWI at BAC 0.18 or higher). The controlled substance possession counts are criminal-level charges under New York Penal Law.
What This DWI Charge Means
New York VTL § 1192 covers a range of impaired-driving offenses. A DWAI (driving while ability impaired, § 1192.1) is a traffic infraction carrying fines up to $500 and a 90-day license suspension for a first offense. A standard DWI (§ 1192.2 or § 1192.3) is a misdemeanor on a first offense: fines between $500 and $1,000, a minimum six-month license revocation, mandatory ignition interlock device installation for at least one year, and up to one year in jail. Aggravated DWI (§ 1192.2-a, BAC 0.18 or higher) carries higher fines and a minimum one-year revocation. Guevara is charged under § 1192.4, drug-impaired driving, which carries the same first-offense misdemeanor penalties as standard DWI.
Repeat offenses escalate quickly. A second DWI within 10 years is a Class E felony; a third is a Class D felony, with prison terms up to seven years. New York’s implied consent law also means that refusing a chemical test triggers an automatic one-year license revocation and a $500 civil penalty, independent of any criminal outcome. That refusal can itself be used as evidence at trial.
The additional criminal possession charges Guevara and Hurtado-Conde face are separate from the driving offense and carry their own sentencing ranges under New York Penal Law, depending on the substance and weight involved.
Case Status & Updates
The charges against Cristian Guevara and John Hurtado-Conde are accusations. Both men are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law. Their cases were scheduled to enter First District Court in Central Islip on Sept. 14, 2026.
Long Island Traffic tracks impaired-driving cases through arraignment, plea, and sentencing. This report will be updated as court records become public.