An accused drunk driver is dealing with vehicular manslaughter fees for his involvement in a fiery a few-motor vehicle Bronx crash that still left a 21-yr-previous male using in a Lyft automobile lifeless, police stated Saturday.
John Cetoute, 27, was arrested shortly just after the 4:15 a.m. crash on the New England Thruway Friday, cops mentioned.
Cetoute was on the northbound aspect of the freeway getting off at the Baychester Ave. exit outside Co-op Town when he struck a Toyota Camry operated by a 53-yr-previous Lyft driver.
The Camry was striving to keep away from a BMW that had crashed into the median and caught fireplace when Cetoute slammed into the sedan, triggering it to overturn as it “flipped” down the exit ramp, witnesses told law enforcement. Cetoute’s Durango was also discovered on the exit ramp.
The Lyft driver and his passenger Shakir Simpson, 21, who was in the backseat, have been briefly pinned in the Toyota when 1st responders arrived.
Simpson, the Lyft driver and Cetoute were being all taken to Jacobi Professional medical Heart, exactly where Simpson died, police reported. He was just four blocks from his Brunner Ave. house when the crash happened.
Both equally Cetoute and the Lyft driver were being not seriously harmed, cops explained. No a single was in the burning BMW when police arrived.
Cetoute was taken into custody once police realized he had been ingesting in advance of the crash. He scored a .13 on a Breathalyzer check — the equal of a 180 pound guy getting 4 beverages — cops explained. Acquiring a blood-alcohol level of .08 is deemed drunk less than New York state law.
Cops charged Cetoute with vehicular manslaughter, drunk driving and reckless driving. His arraignment in Bronx Felony Court was pending Saturday.
It was not instantly disclosed if the Camry driver was doing work for Lyft when the crash happened. An e mail in search of remark from the rideshare services was not straight away returned.