Michael DeAngelo, driver charged in East Massapequa crash that killed 4 family members, overdosed and was revived days before the tragedy, Nassau DA says

The Lindenhurst driver accused of killing four people after he rear-ended a Hyundai Santa Fe in East Massapequa while high on cocaine and fentanyl last month overdosed just three days before the Aug. 6 crash — and then drove across sidewalks and neighbors’ lawns to flee from Suffolk police, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said Wednesday. 

The Aug. 3 overdose was Michael DeAngelo’s second run-in with police in the days before the fatal accident that killed Marine veteran Patrice Huntley, 60, and three of his family members, Donnelly said after the defendant’s arraignment in Nassau County Criminal Court on a 32-count indictment that includes six aggravated-vehicular homicide charges. 

Suffolk police were also called to DeAngelo’s home on Aug. 1 following a 911 complaint about a domestic incident, Donnelly said. DeAngelo, 32, was allegedly combative with Suffolk officers, who found cocaine in his shorts and other drug paraphernalia. He was given a desk appearance ticket charging him with criminal possession of a controlled substance. 

Huntley’s 10-year-old son Jeremiah Huntley, his 13-year-old daughter Hannah Huntley and his 6-year-old stepgranddaughter, Chantel Solomon, also died as a result of the crash. Prosecutors said the event data recorder in DeAngelo’s 2023 Hyundai Kona showed that he was driving about 120 mph right before the accident and struck Huntley’s vehicle at 95 mph. 

“One of the hardest things I do in this job is talking to families about their lost loved ones. I am weary, and I am angry, of having to meet families under these circumstances,” Donnelly said, her voice cracking with emotion. “In this case, Michael DeAngelo nearly wiped out an entire family due to his alleged actions.” 

DeAngelo’s attorney, Karl Seman of Garden City, entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf during Wednesday’s arraignment before acting Nassau Supreme Court Judge Robert Schwartz. Schwartz ordered DeAngelo, who was also injured in the crash and appeared at the arraignment in a wheelchair, to be held without bail. He had previously been held in lieu of $500,000 cash or $1 million bond.

Schwartz said DeAngelo’s behavior suggested he would be a flight risk even if his family could come up with the cash or bond. 

“Drug addicts don’t tend to be concerned about other people, the financial interests of other people,” he said. “He might not be interested in the family losing their money or losing their house.”

The defendant faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charges. Four of the aggravated-vehicular homicide charges are related to the four deceased victims. The other two are linked to the fact that DeAngelo allegedly caused the death of more than one person and serious injury. Patrice Huntley’s 18-year-old stepdaughter also was severely injured in the crash. His 14-year-old son also was hurt. 

After the arraignment, Seman scoffed at prosecutors’ claims that DeAngelo was impaired by drugs, telling reporters that his client was given fentanyl for pain at the hospital and that the cocaine in his system may have been ingested days earlier.

“That, ladies and gentlemen, is not impaired driving,” Seman said.

Added Seman: “I don’t want anyone for one moment to think that Michael, his family, his loved ones, are not remorseful. This is a horribly tragic event.” 

Donnelly said medical records showed that DeAngelo did not receive fentanyl at the hospital. Members of the Huntley family said DeAngelo showed no remorse during his court appearance. 

“You sat and let your attorney say not guilty when you know what you did,” Huntley’s wife, Tasheba Hamilton-Huntley, said of DeAngelo. “It’s just an insult to my family, and it just shows you don’t care about what you did.” 

The Aug. 3 caller told Suffolk 911 operators that DeAngelo was suffering from an overdose and had been administered Narcan, a nasal spray that reverses the effects of a drug overdose.

“When the police arrived, the defendant quickly walked by the responding officer and got into the same vehicle he turned into a missile the night of this crash,” Donnelly said. “The defendant was ordered out of that vehicle by the officer and told he needed immediate medical attention for the episode he had just gone through. The defendant, however, refused those orders and fled the scene, and as he drove away, he crossed over the sidewalk and multiple lawns of his neighbors.”

Nassau prosecutors said Patrice Huntley had taken his family members to a water park to celebrate a new job offer and was en route to get ice cream when the accident occurred, prosecutors said. Huntley’s 2014 Hyundai Santa Fe was stopped at a traffic light on Sunrise Highway in East Massapequa when DeAngelo’s Kona hit multiple vehicles stopped at the light. 

The force of the crash pushed the Santa Fe through the intersection and spun it around so that it faced oncoming traffic. DeAngelo’s Kona went airborne and landed upside down, prosecutors said. 

DeAngelo was impaired by fentanyl and cocaine during the fatal Aug. 6 crash, Donnelly said. He had track marks on his arms and hands, and hypodermic needles and a pipe were discovered in his Kona. 

Donnelly called on New York State legislators to amend the law to allow judges discretion when sentencing defendants like DeAngelo. 

“To treat this as one incident doesn’t take into account that there are four deaths here,” the district attorney said.