A Glen Cove woman who also worked as an Uber driver was indicted for allegedly causing a fiery crash with a motorcycle in North Hills last year that killed a 58-year-old woman and seriously injured her husband.
On July 12, 2025, at approximately 12:49 p.m., the 64-year-old male victim was riding a 2010 Harley Davidson motorcycle on the South Service Road of the Long Island Expressway between New Hyde Park Road and Shelter Rock Road in North Hills. His wife, Lisa Pelaez, 58, was a passenger on the motorcycle.
The couple was heading out for an afternoon in Port Jefferson and to a motorcycle museum in Oyster Bay. At the same time, Nina Varrino was driving her 2025 Kia Sportage behind the victims and allegedly fell asleep at the wheel. She crashed into the motorcycle, ejecting both victims.
Varrino’s car and the motorcycle then became fully engulfed in flames. Varrino managed to climb out of the car and sustained minor injuries.
Lisa Pelaez sustained blunt trauma and was taken to North Shore University Hospital – Manhasset, where she succumbed to her injuries approximately two hours after the crash.
The male victim suffered multiple broken ribs, a fractured spine, fractures to both shoulders, and a collapsed lung requiring surgery and intubation for approximately 10 days after the crash. He remained hospitalized for one month after the crash.
According to the DA’s investigation, the defendant allegedly worked the night before the crash as an Uber driver and stayed up partying, drinking alcohol and ingesting drugs. Her blood revealed active levels of cocaine and Xanax approximately four hours after the crash.
The investigation also determined that approximately an hour and 20 minutes before the fatal crash, Varrino was allegedly driving erratically on the Cross Island Parkway, pulled over on the shoulder, and witnesses told her that she should not be driving.
Approximately 12 minutes later, at 11:40 a.m., the defendant was allegedly driving on Marathon Parkway in Queens and crashed into the rear of another vehicle. After that initial crash, the defendant continued to drive until the fatal North Hills crash.
Varrino was arrested by detectives of the Nassau County Police Department on February 18, 2026.
Varrino, 52, was arraigned before Judge Helene Gugerty on grand jury indictment charges of Aggravated Vehicular Homicide (a Class B felony); Manslaughter in the Second Degree (a Class C felony); Vehicular Manslaughter in the Second Degree (a Class D felony); two counts of Assault in the Second Degree (a Class D violent felony); Vehicular Assault in the First Degree (a Class D felony); Vehicular Assault in the Second Degree (a Class E felony); two counts of Driving While Ability Impaired by Drugs; Driving While Ability Impaired by Combined Drugs and Reckless Driving (all unclassified misdemeanors).
The defendant pleaded not guilty and was remanded. She is due back in court on March 20, 2026. If convicted, she faces up to 8-1/3 to 25 years in prison.
“For miles along multiple busy highways and roads, this defendant recklessly drove while allegedly high on drugs. She was even told by bystanders to stop driving, but the defendant did not heed those words, and ultimately, drove on a fatal collision course with Lisa Pelaez and her husband,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly. “Had this defendant just pulled off the road, stopped driving, and thought for a moment about the lives she was endangering, Lisa would still be with her family.”