A Long Beach man was sentenced to up to 22 years in prison for driving drunk along Stewart Avenue in Garden City in February, crashing into a tree, and killing a passenger in his vehicle.
On February 9 at approximately 4:47 a.m., Christhian Velasquez Galeano was driving a Nissan Maxima while intoxicated and traveling eastbound on Stewart Avenue in Garden City with two passengers when he drove his vehicle into oncoming traffic and crashed into a tree on the westbound shoulder of the road, causing significant damage to the rear driver’s side of the vehicle.
Velasquez Galeano and the front seat passenger exited the vehicle after the crash and fled on foot north on Nassau Boulevard.
Marco Zuniga, 27, was slumped over in the rear passenger seat of the vehicle and unresponsive.
Garden City Police Department officers tracked two sets of footprints in the snow until they stopped in front of 118 Nassau Boulevard and found Velasquez Galeano and the front seat passenger hiding in the bushes. Velasquez Galeano had blood on his hands and exhibited signs of intoxication.
He was taken to Nassau University Medical Center (NUMC) to be treated for his injuries. The front seat passenger was also taken to NUMC with a neck injury.
Zuniga was taken to NYU Langone Long Island Hospital, where he was pronounced deceased at 5:43 a.m.
During the investigation, police found two closed beer bottles in the back seat of the vehicle.
A court-ordered blood test revealed that Velasquez Galeano had a .11% blood alcohol concentration (BAC) four hours after the crash.
Velasquez Galeano, 28, pleaded guilty on June 17 before Judge Caryn Fink to Vehicular Manslaughter in the First Degree (a Class C felony); Operating a Motor Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol and Leaving the Scene of an Incident Without Reporting (both Class D felonies); Aggravated Unlicensed Operation of a Motor Vehicle in the First Degree (a Class E felony); False Personation (a Class B misdemeanor); and Circumvention of an Interlock Device (a Class A misdemeanor). He was sentenced today to 9-5/6 to 22 years in prison.
“Marco Zuniga was known among his family as a loving, kind soul. He was a friend to everyone and always willing to help others, but his life was tragically cut short by Christhian Galeano’s reckless decisions to drive under the influence of alcohol,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly. “Galeano is a recidivist offender whose actions have devastated a family and stolen a loved one. It is my hope that today’s outcome provides Marco’s family with a measure of justice as they continue to mourn his unfathomable loss, and that Galeano’s sentence marks the end of his dangerous and destructive pattern of drunk driving.”