A Glen Cove woman was indicted for charges including aggravated vehicular homicide and drugged driving for a fiery crash with a motorcycle on the South Service Road of the Long Island Expressway in North Hills in July 2025 that killed a 58-year-old woman and seriously injured her husband, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly announced.
Nina Varrino, 52, was arraigned on Wednesday, Feb. 18, on charges of aggravated vehicular homicide, manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter, two counts of assault, vehicular assault, vehicular assault, two counts of driving while ability impaired by drugs, driving while ability impaired by combined drugs and reckless driving.
She pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to appear in court on March 20. If convicted, Varrino faces a sentence of eight 1/3 to 25 years in prison.
On July 12, 2025, the 64-year-old unidentified male victim and his wife, 58-year-old Lisa Pelaez, were driving on a 2010 Harley Davidson motorcycle on the South Service Road of the Long Island Expressway between New Hyde Park Road and Shelter Rock Road in North Hills, Donnelly said. Pelaez was the passenger, seated behind her husband on the motorcycle, the DA said.
At the same time, Varrino was driving her 2025 Kia Sportage behind the couple and allegedly fell asleep at the wheel, Donnelly said.
Varrino crashed into the motorcycle, ejecting both victims, and both the car and motorcycle became fully engulfed in flames, the DA said.
Varrino managed to climb out of the car and sustained minor injuries. Pelaez sustained blunt trauma and was taken to a hospital where she succumbed to her injuries roughly two hours after the crash, Donnelly said.
The man suffered multiple broken ribs, a fractured spine, fractures to both shoulders and a collapsed lung requiring surgery and intubation for approximately 10 days after the crash. He remained hospitalized for one month after the crash, the DA said.
Varrino allegedly worked the night before the crash as an Uber driver and stayed up partying, drinking alcohol and ingesting drugs, according to Donnelly.
Varrino’s blood revealed active levels of cocaine and Xanax approximately four hours after the crash, the DA said.
An investigation also found that roughly an hour and 20 minutes before the crash, Varrino was allegedly driving erratically on the Cross Island Parkway, pulled over on the shoulder and witnesses told her that she should not be driving, Donnelly said. Roughly 12 minutes after that, Varrino was allegedly driving on Marathon Parkway in Queens and crashed into the rear of another car and continued to drive until the North Hills crash, Donnely said.
“For miles along multiple busy highways and roads, this defendant recklessly drove while allegedly high on drugs. She was even told by bystanders to stop driving, but the defendant did not heed those words, and ultimately, drove on a fatal collision course with Lisa Pelaez and her husband,” Donnelly said after the arraignment. “Had this defendant just pulled off the road, stopped driving, and thought for a moment about the lives she was endangering, Lisa would still be with her family.”
