A pregnant woman trying to get away from the scene of a shoplifting attempt at a high-end Long Island mall was killed when her boyfriend crashed head-on into another vehicle on a service road off the Long Island Expressway, police say.
Police say two women had walked into the Sephora store at Americana Mall in Manhassett Sunday afternoon and tried to pass fraudulent credit cards. They left when they were unsuccessful, and got into a car being driven by the pregnant woman's boyfriend, 28-year-old Courtney Corbett of Brooklyn.
Police began pursuing them onto the Long Island Expressway and followed them for about a mile and a half, but backed off the chase when Corbett headed the wrong way onto the south service road of the L.I.E.
Corbett continued for about a mile, passing several wrong-way signs, according to Nassau County police. He then tried to enter the exit wrap of the highway at Shelter Rock Road, then crashed head-on into another vehicle.
The pregnant woman in Corbett's car, identified by relatives as 27-year-old Demytrya Gibbs, was killed in the crash. She had been sitting in the front passenger seat, according to police. Efforts to save her fetus, which was six months along, failed, police said.
Another 23-year-old female passenger in Corbett's car was injured and was taken to the hospital, along with the 44-year-old driver of the other car, who was also hurt. Two boys, ages 13 and 14, were also in the other car but not injured.
Corbett was arrested on a charge of manslaughter; he pleaded not guilty Monday and was remanded back to jail on $200,000. Police say he has a criminal record, with two convictions in 2007.
The other woman who was in Corbett's car is expected to face charges eventually, according to law enforcement sources.
Local
Police said the two women had been involved in similar larcenies at other stores in the area.
