Diana Kutateladze, Oceanside, NY, wrong way DUI driver kills two in Long Island Southern State Parkway pile up. Victims id as Pastor Donald Maxwell and Liscent Maxell of the Pentecostal City Mission Church.
A wrong way drunk driver is accused of jumping the center median of a Long Island highway and careening into oncoming traffic — killing an elderly couple and injuring 10 others in a six car pileup, officials said Monday.
Diana Kutateladze, 36, of Oceanside was traveling westbound on the Southern State Parkway in her Cadillac Escalade just after 10 p.m. Sunday when she lost control of her vehicle, sideswiping a vehicle in the left lane, barreling over the center median and continuing driving straight into oncoming traffic, New York State Police said in a statement.
Wrong way DUI driver kills 2 in Long Island Southern State Parkway pile up
She plowed directly into a black Toyota SUV car — with occupants Donald Maxwell, 82, and Liscent Maxell, 88, dying on impact, according to authorities. Their family members declined to speak to the media, but on social media tributes poured in for the 82-year-old, a pastor at the Pentecostal City Mission Church.
Six cars and 10 drivers were caught in the carnage, which took place just west of exit 17S in Malverne in the Town of Hempstead. Several drivers and passengers were taken to the hospital, with one person still listed in critical condition Monday afternoon, state police said according to NBC4.
DUI driver faces series of felony driving charges
Kutateladze upon her arrest was charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, two counts of vehicular manslaughter, second-degree assault, DWI and reckless driving.
The alleged drunk driver also had an unnamed passenger in her car at the time of the crash. It was not immediately clear if that person was among those hospitalized.
Following the crash, the parkway was shut down between exits 15 and 17 for over seven hours, police revealed.
