'3 Times The Legal Limit:' Hempstead Man Pleads Guilty After Drunken Wrong-Way Roslyn Crash, NCDA Says

ROSLYN, NY — A Hempstead man pleaded guilty on Monday after a wrong-way Roslyn crash that seriously injured the driver of another vehicle that occurred in May, the Nassau County District Attorney's Office said.

Jorge Arias Reyes, 50, pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular assault (a C felony), second-degree assault (a D violent felony), and aggravated driving while intoxicated per se (an unclassified misdemeanor), the DA's office said.

According to the DA's office, on May 18, 2025, at approximately 7 a.m., Reyes was three times the legal limit for alcohol when the wrong-way crash occurred.

He was driving a 2009 Honda Odyssey westbound in the eastbound lanes of the Long Island Expressway near Exit 37 in Roslyn when he collided head-on with a 2014 Toyota Prius, the DA's office said. Reyes was traveling in the wrong direction with his car for several miles, and sideswiped another vehicle earlier, before the head-on Roslyn crash, the DA's office said.

The Prius was driven by a 51-year-old person who was transported to North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset – the person suffered a fractured tibia and a dislocated hip, the DA's office said.

Reyes was also transported to the same hospital for treatment of injuries, the DA's office said.

According to the DA, Reyes' blood was taken at the hospital, and it was revealed that his blood alcohol content level was .26 percent – more than three times the legal limit. He was arrested by the NCPD at approximately 7:25 a.m., the DA's office said. He was arraigned on July 25, 2025, and his bail was set at $90,000 cash, $180,000 bond, and $900,000 partially secured bond – his driver’s license was suspended.

Reyes is due back in court on June 12, 2026, and is expected to be sentenced to up to five to nine years in prison, the DA's office said.

"The defendant’s level of intoxication in this case was staggering," District Attorney Anne Donnelly said. "At more than three times the legal limit, Jorge Reyes drove the wrong way on the Long Island Expressway for miles before causing a violent head-on collision that left another driver with serious injuries. These are the choices that destroy lives."

The DA's office said the case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney James Taglienti of the Vehicular Crimes Bureau, under the supervision of Bureau Chief Michael Bushwack and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for the Litigation Division Kevin Higgins. The defendant is represented by Steve Barnwell, Esq., the DA's office said.