By Barbara Baez
A Marine from Garden City was ordered held without bail after he pleaded not guilty to charges of driving drunk in a crash that killed two brothers as they crossed Hempstead Turnpike in East Meadow early Sunday morning.
Staff Sgt. James Farr, 33, who has done three tours in Iraq, was charged Monday with driving while intoxicated and two counts of vehicular manslaughter. Nassau police said Farr’s blood-alcohol level was .21, more than twice the legal limit of .08, when the accident occurred. His BMW struck 27-year-old Thomas Occhiogrosso, of Riverhead, and his 28-year-old brother, Joseph, near the intersection of Conti Square Boulevard.
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Thomas, who was also in the military as an inactive reservist for the US Navy, was visiting his brother, who lived with family in East Meadow.
After hitting the two, Farr pulled over to the side of the road and asked another motorist to call 911, police said. Thomas was pronounced dead at the scene while Joseph was taken to Nassau University Medical Center where he was died shortly later.
“If there is evidence of speed or recklessness the charges may be upgraded,” said Detective Lt. John Azzata of the Homicide Squad. The investigation is also continuing and is exploring if the brothers were drunk at the time, or if they darted out in front of Farr’s vehicle, he added.
Attorney Marvin Hirsch says the accident was unavoidable. Farr was assigned to the 1st Marine Corps District in Garden City. A Marine spokesman offered condolences to the victims family.
The brothers will be laid out at O’shea Funeral Home in East Meadow on Tuesday and Wednesday. The viewing times are Tuesday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Wednesday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.
