Bloods gang member pleads guilty to aggravated vehicular manslaughter

A Southampton man with gang ties pleaded guilty Wednesday to aggravated vehicular manslaughter and other charges in the hit-and-run death of a delivery driver in April 2018, Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy D. Sini said in a news release.

“This is a significant conviction of a highly dangerous gang member,” Sini said in the release. “From the minute this deadly crash occurred, he tried to evade law enforcement. At each step of the way, he attempted to avoid taking responsibility for this crash by tampering with evidence and intimidating witnesses, but today my office made sure he was held accountable.”

Chace Quinn, aka Chase Quinn, 20, of the Shinnecock Indian reservation, also pleaded guilty to these felonies: leaving the scene of an incident resulting in death; intimidating a witness; and driving while intoxicated.

Quinn is a Bloods gang member, and he was indicted in June 2018 on the charges, according to the release.

On April 5, 2018, Quinn was driving a 2013 Jeep Wrangler eastbound on County Road 39 while intoxicated when he struck and killed Joseph Lynn McAlla, 63, of Clifford, Pennsylvania, the release said.

Quinn left the scene without reporting the crash to police and continued driving to the reservation.

McAlla was found dead in the road at  about 2:30 a.m. by members of the Southampton Town Police Department. McAlla had just completed a delivery of stone to Southampton Masonry and was crossing the roadway when he was struck and killed, the release said.

The impact of the crash left debris spanning  about 300 feet along the roadway. Police  found the victim’s leg, which had been severed in the crash,  about 70 feet away from his body, the release said.

Quinn was arrested by  state troopers on May 29, 2018, at about 2:30 a.m. on Sunrise Highway  as he was attempting to flee the state to live with family members in Georgia, according to police.

Quinn is scheduled to be sentenced June 13 by Suffolk County acting Supreme Court Justice Fernando Camacho and faces  eight to 24 years in prison.

By Deborah S. Morris

deborah.morris@newsday.comdsvmorris

Deborah Morris is a native Long Islander and covers the town of Huntington.