A 38-year-old man was booked on manslaughter charges this week for his role in a deadly crash involving a scooter on the Cooper Avenue underpass in Glendale last weekend.
Roberto Olivo of Poughkeepsie, N.Y. was arrested shortly after the early-morning accident on April 9 that claimed the life of Glendale’s Michael Messina, 21.
Messina was riding a scooter along the underpass between 74th and 79th streets at about 4 a.m. last Saturday when he was struck head-on by an Acura SUV that Olivo drove.
Sources said the Acura then stopped at the corner of Cooper Avenue and 74th Street, about a block west of where the accident occurred, after it burst into flames.
Fire Department units and the 104th Precinct responded to the scene. Messina was rushed to Jamaica Hospital in critical condition and died later of his injuries.
Following a preliminary investigation, authorities said, Olivo was taken into custody after police determined he had a suspended license.
Olivo was arraigned on April 10 on charges of second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, reckless driving, reckless endangerment, aggravated unlicensed operator and driving while ability impaired. He remains held on $150,000 bond or $100,000 cash bail and is scheduled to return to court on May 4.
