Cops: Manslaughter charge for driver in fatal Malverne crash

A Baldwin man faces felony manslaughter and other charges after the sedan he was driving late Saturday on the Southern State Parkway struck the back of an SUV in Malverne, sending both vehicles off the roadway and killing his passenger, New York State Police said Sunday.

The crash occurred just before 9 p.m. on the westbound parkway between Exits 16 and 17 when a BMW M3 driven by Haynes Harris, 40, hit a Chevrolet Equinox from behind, according to a news release from the state police.

Both vehicles were forced to the right shoulder in the crash, police said, before the BMW overturned and came to rest after striking a utility box. Harris' passenger, Adrian Hall, 51, of New York City, was transported to NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island in Mineola  where he later died, according to police.

Harris, who was transported to the same hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries, faces charges of second-degree felony manslaughter, second-degree felony assault, second-degree felony reckless endangerment as well as reckless driving and driving while intoxicated, both misdemeanors, police said.

Harris was held without bail at his arraignment Sunday in Nassau County First District Court. He pleaded not guilty, said his Mineola-based lawyer, Gregory Grizopoulos.

“He's upset. He feels very bad,” Grizopoulos said of his client. “He's devastated by the loss of his friend.”

Grizopoulos said the two had attended a charity turkey drive earlier in the day.

“We're still early in the investigation but it is our position that alcohol did not play a role in the accident,” he said. “This was a car accident. And we think that when all the evidence comes out, it will be shown to be just that — an accident.”

The driver of the SUV was treated at NYU Langone in Mineola for nonlife-threatening injuries, police said.

Earlier Saturday, separate fatal crashes on state roadways in Suffolk claimed the lives of three others, according to police.

A Patchogue man riding a 1984 Harley Davidson eastbound about 3:30 p.m. on Sunrise Highway in Eastport was killed when the motorcycle left the road and hit a guide wire, state police said.

Donald Ellers, 64, of Patchogue, was thrown from the bike and died instantly, police said.

About 5:30 a.m., Freeport resident Silas Rosales, 51, was a passenger in a 2009 Toyota Corolla being driven by his son, Silas Rosales-Pleitez, 29, when the vehicle left the Sagtikos Parkway ramp from the eastbound Southern State Parkway in Islip and struck a guardrail, according to police. Rosales died of his injuries at South Shore University Hospital, police said. Rosales-Pleitez was treated at the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries.

And just before 1 a.m., a 2020 Toyota Scion heading east on the Southern State Parkway in Islip Town struck a tree after the driver, Gustavo Santos, 25, of Bay Shore, lost control of the vehicle west of Exit 42S, according to state police. Santos, police added, was killed instantly.

By Vera Chinese

vera.chinese@newsday.com@VeraChinese

Vera Chinese joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.