Driver charged in fatal Hempstead crash

A Valley Stream man faces manslaughter charges after police said he drove while ability-impaired by drugs, crashing into a car Monday morning in Hempstead and killing a 21-year-old woman traveling with her father.

Nassau County police have not released the identities of the dead woman or her father, 55, both of Bellerose, Queens. The father was seriously injured, police said in a news release.

The alleged impaired driver, Frank Pergola, 51, of 203 Ridge Ave., was charged with second-degree manslaughter, second-degree vehicular manslaughter, second-degree vehicular assault, reckless driving, driving while ability-impaired by drugs and third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. Police said Pergola had "numerous suspensions" of his driver's license. It was not immediately clear how many times it was suspended.

Police said the father and daughter were traveling in a 2011 Kia and were attempting to turn from Peninsula Boulevard onto West Marshall Street when Pergola, driving a 2011 Hyundai northbound on Peninsula "at a high rate of speed," went through "a steady red traffic signal" and struck the Kia.

The impact caused the Kia to leave the road and strike a utility pole on the sidewalk, police said. The father and daughter were taken to a hospital, where the woman died at 10:27 a.m., less than an hour after the 9:40 a.m. accident, police said. The father was in serious condition.

Police said Pergola also was admitted to a hospital in stable condition. He faces arraignment as soon as his condition allows, police said.