An alleged drunk driver has been arrested for crashing his car head-on with a truck, killing his 28-year-old passenger in the suspect’s hometown of Massapequa early Tuesday morning, Nassau County police said.
Michael Bantel, 27, was driving a Nissan Maxima eastbound on Sunrise Highway when his car crossed into the opposite lane of traffic and crashed into a westbound Ford F-150XLT pickup truck at 4:45 a.m., police said.
Bantel’s passenger, Anthony Sylvia, of East Meadow, was taken to a local hospital where he died.
The 37-year-old woman driving the truck was hospitalized for non-life threatening injuries to her head, knee and back.
Bantel was charged with manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter, assault and driving while intoxicated. He will be arraigned Wednesday at a hospital.
