Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced the arraignment yesterday of a Levittown man on an indictment for driving drunk and causing the death of a 23-year-old man in a high-speed crash on the Northern State Parkway.
Brian Friedrichs, 23, was arraigned yesterday in Nassau County Court before Acting Supreme Court Justice Alan Honorof on an indictment of Manslaughter in the 2nd Degree (a C felony), Vehicular Manslaughter in the 2nd Degree (a D felony), two counts of Operating a Motor Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol (an unclassified misdemeanor), Reckless Endangerment in the 2nd Degree (an A misdemeanor), Reckless Driving (an unclassified misdemeanor), and Unlawful Possession of Marijuana (a violation).
Justice Honorof ordered the defendant held without bail. If convicted, Friedrichs faces up to five to 15 years in prison. He is due back in court on Oct. 16.
“The life of a young man was cut short by the criminally reckless actions of this driver,” DA Rice said. “It is a miracle no other innocent motorist was killed by this defendant driving drunk and 120 mph on a Nassau County parkway. Tragically, the death of his passenger was inevitable.”
DA Rice said that on July 22 at approximately 4 a.m., a 2012 Mazda 3 operated by Friedrichs with a 23-year-old passenger crashed while traveling westbound on the Northern State Parkway near the Post Avenue exit. Both Friedrichs and the passenger were ejected from the vehicle.
The black box contained within the defendant’s vehicle indicated that the vehicle was traveling 120 miles per hour before losing control. Marijuana and marijuana pipes were recovered from the vehicle and the crash scene. Friedrich was arrested the same day by the New York State Police.
Assistant District Attorney Michael Bushwack of DA Rice’s Vehicular Crimes Bureau is prosecuting the case. Friedrichs is represented by Alan Schwartz, Esq.
The charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless found guilty.