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Pedestrian killed in Huntington Station; officer struck

BY SOPHIA CHANG | sophia.chang@newsday.com

5:58 PM EDT, March 29, 2008

A pedestrian was struck and killed by a van in Huntington Station Friday night, and a Suffolk County police officer investigating the accident was also hit and injured by an intoxicated woman who drove through the crime scene, police said.

Around 8:32 p.m. Friday on Depot Road near East 12th Street, Juan Reyes, 39, of Huntington Station, was struck by a van driven by Philip Grasso, 80, also of Huntington Station.

Grasso, who remained at the scene, said he never saw Reyes on the road, and witnesses told police they didn't know where Reyes came from, said Det. Sgt. Bruce Markgraf. Grasso was not charged, police said.

Reyes was taken to Huntington Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Markgraf said.

Around 9:35 p.m., Carlene Kovacs drove north on Depot Road, under crime scene tape, around several orange traffic cones and four police cars with flashing lights, and into the oncoming traffic lane before police officers stopped her, Markgraf said.

Officer John Mcaleavey approached Kovacs, 49, of 79 Varney Ave., Huntington, as she sat in her 1997 Pontiac, police said. The car suddenly lunged forward, striking Mcaleavey, according to Markgraf.

Kovacs got out of the car, Markgraf said. "She smelled of alcohol and refused a field sobriety test," he said.

Kovacs was arraigned yesterday on two counts of driving while intoxicated, and two violations for failure to stay in a traffic lane and disobeying police orders. She was released on her own recognizance and is due back in court May 6. Calls placed to her home were not returned yesterday.

Mcaleavey was taken to Huntington Hospital and treated for injuries to his legs and back, then released, Markgraf said.

Reyes was a landscaper originally from El Salvador who had lived in New York for 20 years and was a "good guy," his friend, Oscar Benitez, said yesterday from Reyes' home.

"I feel very, very bad about it," Grasso said in an interview yesterday. "I didn't see the guy. It's a dark area and he had a dark jacket on."