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Oct. 10, 2022 By Max Murray
A tow truck driver was struck dead on the Long Island Expressway during the early hours Saturday morning while he was attempting to hitch a vehicle onto the back of his truck.
Carlos Santiago, 47, of Howard Beach, was fatally hit at around 3:20 a.m. while a 27-year-old man whose broken-down Nissan sedan was about to be towed is in serious condition. They were both struck on the shoulder of the Long Island Expressway—on the Manhattan-bound side near 84th Street and Woodhaven Boulevard.
According to police, the pair were hit after Denzel Porter, who was allegedly driving drunk, lost control of his west-bound Dodge Durango and struck a Volkswagen in an adjacent lane.
The driver of the Volkswagen then careened into Santiago, knocking him to the pavement. Porter, in the Dodge, then plowed into the Nissan sedan, which in turn made contact with the 27-year-old man, knocking him to the ground.
Santiago and the 27-year-old man were both transported to NYC Health & Hospitals/Elmhurst where Santiago was declared dead while the 27-year-old remains in serious condition with leg injuries.
The occupants of the Dodge, which included Porter and two passengers, and the Volkswagen, which didn’t have any passengers, were transported via EMS to New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Queens. All were listed in stable condition.
Police charged Porter with attempted vehicular manslaughter and attempted criminally negligent homicide. The investigation remains ongoing, police said.
