A driver who allegedly took off after being seen by police crashed into another car at a high rate of speed, killing the 58-year-old woman driving it, authorities say.
Police say officers saw Justin Daley, 28, leaving an East Meadow motel parking lot late Monday; they say he took off at "a high rate of speed" eastbound on Hempstead Turnpike, where he rear-ended a 2013 Honda, causing it to spin out onto the southeast corner of the highway.
The 58-year-old woman driving the Honda was an off-duty hospital worker at Nassau University Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. She was an East Meadow resident.
Both vehicles were reduced to twisted piles of metal; the front of one of the cars was crumpled, its windshield smashed. A tire hung lopsided on one side of the vehicle. The other car had the driver's side front and back doors sheered off, possibly in an attempt to rescue the driver inside.
Daley, of Hicksville, was arrested on charges of manslaughter, reckless endangerment and reckless driving. He was taken to a hospital to be treated for a leg injury and will be arraigned when he is medically able, authorities said.
Daley's father said his son, a former Marine who recently graduated from Briarcliff College with honors, wouldn't evade police.
"He has no reason to run from the cops," said Michael Daley. "It's not his character to do anything like this."
Michael Daley said his son had borrowed his mother's car to visit his own 18-month-old son in Levittown and then go see a friend.
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It wasn't clear why Daley allegedly fled by police, and it wasn't immediately clear if he had an attorney. Both vehicles were impounded for safety inspections.
