By Anna Gustafson
A suspected drunk driving accident at the intersection of 77th Road and 150th Street in Kew Gardens Hills in the middle of the night last week left a 59−year−old man dead and sent two people to Jamaica Hospital, police said.
Police charged Yonkers resident Denise Rivera, 26, with vehicular manslaughter, driving while intoxicated and vehicular assault after Rivera’s white Infinity allegedly struck a gray Chevy Blazer driven by Robert Behar of Woodmere at 1 a.m. on Oct. 22, causing him to crash through a fence and land on a front lawn, according to police spokesman Martin Speechley.
Behar was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.
Rivera, who was taken into custody at the crash site, and a 44−year−old male passenger in Behar’s vehicle were taken to Jamaica Hospital in stable condition, police said.
Rivera was driving eastbound along 77th Road when she allegedly struck the Chevy driven by Behar, who had been traveling northbound on 150th Street, police said.
Christine Poon, who owns the house where Behar’s car landed, said the accident upset neighbors, many of whom awoke immediately upon hearing the crash.
“It’s so sad, very sad,” said Poon, who woke up as soon as she heard “a large bam.”
“I didn’t even hear brakes squealing or anything,” she said. “I just heard the impact.”
The accident left Poon’s fence partially destroyed and glass remained shattered on the sidewalk and in her yard at noon following the late night crash.
Poon said she and surrounding neighbors have been concerned about that intersection for years. People drive too fast down both 77th Road and 150th Street, she said, and residents hope to someday see stop signs at the intersection.
“We have to live here and it’s very dangerous,” she said. “Another car flipped over on my neighbor’s lawn, but luckily no one was killed then. This time someone died.”
Police said the investigation into the accident was ongoing.
