Driver in 4-vehicle fatal crash high on drugs, complaint says
Peter Visconti was arrested after a fatal crash on the Long Island Expressway on Saturday. Police said he was being was arraigned on Monday. Credit: SCPD
A Mastic man is in the Suffolk jail after being charged in court with being high on drugs when he drove his pickup truck into a minivan on the Long Island Expressway, causing a fatal crash.
Peter Visconti Jr., 37, was held in Yaphank on bail of $25,000 bond or $10,000 cash after he was arraigned on the charges Monday at First District Court in Central Islip.
Saturday, Visconti was driving a red 2004 Ford pickup westbound on the LIE around 3:30 p.m. when he struck a 2011 Honda minivan near Exit 68. The pickup then went into the eastbound lanes, colliding with a 2013 Toyota minivan and a motorcycle.
One woman was killed. Eight were injured, officials said, including Visconti, who was treated for non-life-threatening injuries and released. Suffolk police have yet to identify the woman who died.
The criminal complaint said the officer who arrested Visconti observed he had “glassy, watery bloodshot eyes” and “mumbled slurred speech.” He also had Xanax and hydrocodone with him, the complaint said.
Blood tests are pending, officials said.
Visconti was arraigned on charges of driving while ability impaired by drugs, third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.
A spokeswoman for the Suffolk district attorney’s office said Visconti does not yet have an attorney.
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
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