Cabbie in crash pleads guilty to driving while high

A Hempstead taxi driver is facing 7 years in prison after he pleaded guilty Friday to being high on cocaine and marijuana when he crashed his cab into a Bay Shore woman and her son, seriously injuring them.

Jose Gonzalez, 24, pleaded guilty to second-degree assault and driving while impaired by drugs in front of County Court Judge Meryl Berkowitz. His sentencing is scheduled for July 9.

About 1:15 a.m. on July 13, 2009, Dilenia Jimenez, 39, and her son Eli Grullon, 20, were loading boxes into the trunk of their parked car on Fulton Avenue in Hempstead, according to Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice's office.

Gonzalez, who said he had smoked two cigars stuffed with marijuana and had snorted five lines of cocaine before starting his shift that night, was driving east on Fulton in his white 1992 Mercury cab when he struck Jimenez and Grullon, who were standing behind their car.

Jimenez's right leg had to be amputated above the knee, and she suffered multiple pelvic fractures. Grullon's right arm was impaled by a metal pole, and he now has limited use of his hand, Rice said.

A message left for Gonzalez's lawyer was not immediately returned Friday. He was represented in court by Ilana Kopmar of Legal Aid.

Gonzalez, of 42 Attorney St., told police he passed out after coming to a stop on Fulton at South Franklin.

A police toxicology report showed that Gonzalez had been using cocaine all night while picking up 25 fares during his shift before the crash, Rice said.

"This was a horrifically violent crash that has permanently disfigured two innocent people," Rice said in a news release. "That this defendant was driving a taxi is even more egregious.

"With the number of people he drove that night and the distance he traveled, it's a miracle that nobody was killed. People who use cabs deserve to know that the person they're paying for a safe ride is not high or drunk."

Jimenez and Grullon could not be reached for comment.