Man arraigned in fatal Port Washington hit-run while drunk, high, prosecutors say
Cosmin Florea, 34, of Baldwin, was arraigned on Tuesday, October 21, 2014 on an indictment that charged he killed a man while driving drunk and high on marijuana last August, prosecutors said. Credit: NCPD
A Baldwin man was arraigned Tuesday on an indictment that charged he killed a man while driving drunk and high on marijuana in August, prosecutors said.
Cosmin Florea, 34, was arraigned in Nassau County Court before Judge Helene Gugerty on charges of second-degree vehicular manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident without reporting, two counts of driving while intoxicated and driving while ability impaired-drugs according to a news release from the Nassau district attorney's office.
He faces up to 21/3 to 7 years in prison if convicted of the top charges, prosecutors said. He is scheduled to return to court Nov. 20.
Florea was driving a 2010 Ford Fusion when he struck Donald C. Mooney Jr., 49, of Lynbrook, who was walking across Main Street west of South Bayles Avenue in Port Washington, prosecutors said.
Florea left the scene and was later stopped in Queens by the NYPD and arrested. His car windshield was damaged, and alcohol and marijuana was "found to be in his system at the time of the crash," prosecutors said.
"This defendant not only struck and killed an innocent pedestrian while drunk and high on drugs, he left him where he lay without even stopping his vehicle," Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice said in a statement.
His attorney Michael DerGarabedian of Rockville Centre said in August that Florea was a graphic designer and had no criminal background.
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