A Long Beach man was sentenced on July 9, 2024 to five to 12 years in prison for a March 2022 drunken motorcycle crash that killed a New York City public school teacher walking across the street in Rockville Centre.
Christopher Flores, 29, pleaded guilty on January 30, 2024, to second-degree manslaughter and first-degree vehicular manslaughter, both Class C felonies;second-degree assault, a class D violent felony, driving while ability impaired by the combined influence of alcohol and drugs as a felony, and driving while intoxicated, both Class E felonies.
On March 19, 2022, at approximately 11:53 p.m., Scott Brower was crossing Merrick Road at South Forest Avenue in a crosswalk when he was struck by Flores driving a 2020 BMW motorcycle eastbound at a high rate of speed while intoxicated and high. Flores was thrown from the motorcycle, which crashed into another vehicle before finally stopping.
Brower was transported to Nassau University Medical Center where he was pronounced dead at 1:40 a.m. Flores also suffered significant physical injuries and was transported to Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital in Oceanside for treatment.
Blood taken from Flores at the hospital showed a BAC of .17% and evidence of cannabis use. He was arrested by members of the Nassau County Police Department and the Rockville Centre Police Department on March 20, 2022.
This is the second time Flores was prosecuted for a DWI. In 2016, he was sentenced to three years’ probation.
“This defendant should have known the consequences of driving while intoxicated, having been prosecuted in 2016 for a DWI in Island Park. But instead, Christopher Flores got drunk and high on marijuana and sped down Merrick Road, striking and killing Scott Brower less than two blocks away from his home,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly. “Scott was a beloved teacher and basketball coach and an inspiration to his students at P.S. 20 in Flushing, Queens. He was doing the work to change young lives every day, while raising a 21-month-old daughter of his own. Scott was tragically taken from his family, his friends, and the Flushing community he served with pride by this careless and reckless defendant. Our thoughts remain with all those who loved Scott as Flores is sentenced for this heartbreaking and truly senseless crime.”