Two people were killed and several others were injured in a six-vehicle pile-up caused by a suspected drunk driver on the Southern State Parkway on Sunday, March 15, according to the New York State Police Department.
Diana Kutateladze, 36, of Oceanside was arrested and charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, two counts of vehicular manslaughter, assault, driving while intoxicated and reckless driving, police said.
At roughly 10:13 p.m., state troopers responded to the Southern State Parkway, near Exit 17S in Malverne and upon arrival, they found a multi-car crash, police said.
A preliminary investigation found Kutateladze, who had been driving a 2020 black Cadillac Escalade with one other person in the car, sideswiped a gray BMW traveling in the left lane, police said.
Kutateladze lost control of the car, crossed the center median and continued traveling westbound in the eastbound lanes, hitting multiple cars, including a head-on collision with a 2016 black Toyota Highlander, police said.
A total of six vehicles and 10 people were involved in the collision, police said.
Two passengers in the 2016 black Toyota Highlander, 82-year-old Donald Maxwell and 88-year-old Liscent B. Maxwell, were pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
Several others involved in the crash were transported to local hospitals, including one person who sustained critical injuries, police said.
Preliminary investigations indicated speed and impairment were contributing factors to this incident, police said.
