Brooklyn EMT sentenced in crash that left woman a double amputee

A Brooklyn EMT was sentenced to three to nine years in prison Thursday for a drunken driving crash that left a woman a double amputee and injured two of his passengers.

The sentencing came after the victim, Daijoneé Vanderveer, tearfully addressed defendant Kevin Rosas Daqui in court Thursday, where she said she saw his face for the first time since the crash. She said he never attempted to apologize before the sentencing.

"You've made my life a thousand times harder. I have to redesign my life at 37 years old in a less comfortable lifestyle. I am forced to smile, because if I didn't I would cry," she said. "You deserve to rot in prison to feel your freedom be restricted as it will forever be for me."

Prosecutors said Rosas Daqui, 25, of Brooklyn was driving with a blood alcohol level of 0.22, almost three times the legal limit, when he crashed into Vanderveer, 37, of Rockville Centre.

Rosas Daqui, who worked for the FDNY at the time, was speeding south on the Sagtikos Parkway on Nov. 5 after 12:30 a.m. heading to Brentwood with three passengers after leaving the Marine Corps Ball in Westbury.

Prosecutors said he crashed his 2012 Honda Civic into Vanderveer's car as she was taking a spare tire out of her trunk, severing her lower legs.

Rosas Daqui, who is a Marine reservist, turned to face Vanderveer in court to apologize in a trembling voice before he was sentenced and led to jail.

"I want to say I’m truly sorry for what happened to you and the change of lifestyle you faced. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen," he said. "I do feel sorry and think about you every day. I’m not some heartless monster. I’m just another human being. I do wish the best for you and I hope you have many good days to come."

Rosas Daqui pleaded guilty in July to felony aggravated vehicular assault, misdemeanor aggravated driving while intoxicated and reckless driving in a plea deal with prosecutors that could have sent him to prison for 15 years.

Vanderveer said she has an infection in her leg from shattered bone fragments but hopes to walk again using prosthetic legs. But she said her love of long walks, running to care for her 16-year-old son or even wearing high heels has been robbed from her.

She said her apartment is not equipped for her to go up stairs or fit into the bathroom with her wheelchair, which is falling apart, and she was denied for disability benefits.

"I literally have to fight and advocate every day for myself, trying to tell myself I’m not worthless, that I'm still pretty, that I don’t take up too much space or I don't inconvenience others," she said. "It wasn't until five years ago learned to love myself and how I look, but now I can barely see myself in mirrors to convince myself I look half-decent, to feel worthy of love."

Immediately following the crash, an off-duty Suffolk County police officer and his wife helped Vanderveer by applying belts as tourniquets to stop her from bleeding to death, prosecutors said.

She was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital where she underwent emergency surgery.

Two of Rosas Daqui's passengers were seriously injured, including a U.S. Marine who fractured his skull and has to have facial reconstruction surgery.

Another woman in the car had her spine fractured.

Rosas Daqui was also ordered to have an interlock device installed on his car for a year once he was released from prison.

His family cried as he was led to jail in handcuffs. Relatives declined to comment.

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.