A Glen Cove woman pleaded guilty to charges including aggravated vehicular homicide and drugged driving for a fiery crash with a motorcycle on the South Service Road of the Long Island Expressway in North Hills in July 2025 that killed a 58-year-old woman and seriously injured her husband.
On July 12, 2025, at approximately 12:49 p.m., 64-year-old George Pelaez and his wife, 58-year-old Lisa Pelaez, were driving on 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. The couple was heading out for an afternoon in Port Jefferson and to a motorcycle museum in Oyster Bay. Lisa Pelaez was the passenger, seated behind her husband on the motorcycle.
At the same time, Nina Varrino was driving her 2025 Kia Sportage behind the victims and passed out at the wheel. The defendant crashed into the motorcycle, ejecting both victims. Varrino’s car and the motorcycle then became fully engulfed in flames.
The defendant 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.
George Pelaez suffered multiple broken ribs, a fractured spine, fractures to both shoulders, and a collapsed lung requiring intubation for approximately 10 days after the crash. He remained hospitalized for one month after the crash.
Varrino worked the night before the crash as an Uber driver and stayed up partying, drinking alcohol and ingesting drugs.
The defendant’s 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 driving erratically on the Cross Island Parkway, pulled over on the shoulder, and witnesses told the defendant that she should not be driving.
Approximately 12 minutes later, at 11:40 a.m., the defendant was driving on the 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.
Nassau County detectives arrested Varrino on February 18, 2026.
Varrino, 52, pleaded guilty on September 28 before Judge Helene Gugerty on grand jury indictment charges of Aggravated Vehicular Homicide (a Class B felony); Assault in the Second Degree (a Class D violent felony); and Driving While Ability Impaired by the Combined Influence of Drugs (an unclassified misdemeanor).
“Lisa Pelaez and her husband, George Pelaez, set out on a clear summer day for what should have been a peaceful motorcycle ride together. Instead, they were met with terror because Nina Varrino crashed into them while she was high on cocaine and Xanax,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly. “I hope today’s guilty plea brings Lisa’s and George’s family a step closer to healing, knowing that the defendant will finally face the consequences of her actions from the inside of a prison cell.”
Varrino is due back in court on November 19, 2026, and is expected to be sentenced to seven to 21 years in prison.