Freeport man sentenced for wrong-way Sunrise Highway crash in Massapequa Park that killed 2
Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly. Credit: Johnny Milano
A Freeport man was sentenced to up to 21 years in prison Monday after he drove drunk in November 2022, leading to a wrong-way crash on Sunrise Highway that killed his cousin and a Massapequa man.
Juan De Leon Collado, 30, had been drinking at a Farmingdale sports bar when he left with his cousin, while driving a 2003 Honda CRV heading west in the eastbound lanes of Sunrise Highway about 4:20 a.m. on Nov. 6, 2022, Nassau County district attorney officials said.
He was speeding the wrong way for about a half-mile near Park Boulevard in Massapequa Park when he crashed head-on into a 2022 Honda Civic. The crash killed Nicholas Berardino Jr., 24, of Massapequa, who was riding in the front passenger seat of the Civic.
Berardino's 28-year-old cousin, who was driving the Civic, was seriously injured and fractured his hip, prosecutors said.
Collado’s cousin Amaury Ramirez Lora, 29, was trapped in the front passenger seat of the CRV and died from his injuries two weeks later.
Collado was unconscious following the crash and was treated for internal bleeding. He pleaded guilty a year later to charges of aggravated vehicular homicide, assault and aggravated driving while intoxicated. He was sentenced Monday to 7 to 21 years in prison.
“The moment he turned the key to his car, Juan De Leon Collado condemned two innocent men to die,” District Attorney Anne Donnelly said in a statement. “Collado had been drinking much of the evening at a sports bar in Farmingdale when he stepped behind the wheel and careened down Sunrise Highway straight into oncoming traffic … Drunk driving is at epidemic levels on Long Island.”
John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.