MINEOLA, N.Y. (1010 WINS) – A Long Island man was sentenced to prison for fatally backing over a man in a diner parking lot while drunk driving last year, as prosecutors slammed him for “brazenly” drinking instead of showing up to court.
Willem Specht, 63, was handed a sentence of 7 to 15 years behind bars after pleading guilty in August to aggravated vehicular homicide, assault and aggravated driving while intoxicated. This was his third DWI conviction.
Specht had a blood-alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit when he backed over the victim in the parking lot of the On Parade Diner in Woodbury on the afternoon of Jan. 18, 2023.
Joseph DeVito, 61, was talking with a childhood friend on a sidewalk outside the diner around 2:30 p.m. when a “highly intoxicated” Specht rapidly reversed his Infiniti G35 into him while backing out of a parking spot, prosecutors said.
Specht continued in reverse, plowing into a ramp, a metal fence and the exterior wall of the diner, according to the prosecution. He then re-parked his car, got out and stood in the parking lot before attempting to leave the scene. He was stopped by a witness and arrested by Nassau County police.
DeVito suffered catastrophic head injuries and died at Syosset Hospital shortly thereafter.
Specht was also taken to a hospital, where his blood-alcohol content was found to be 0.18% more than three hours after the crash.
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said Specht continued to drink “brazenly and publicly” during the course of the prosecution and against court orders.
“Surveillance video even captured the defendant entering his local liquor store, buying a bottle of vodka, and uncapping it right in the parking lot at the same time he was scheduled and failed to appear for a court date in Joseph DeVito’s tragic death,” Donnelly said in a statement Wednesday.
The district attorney said she hoped the prison sentence would give him time to “reflect on the heartbreak he has caused.”
Family and friends packed a Nassau County courtroom for the sentencing. They were wearing photos of DeVito, who they remembered as an "incredible" husband, father and grandfather "who always had us laughing."
“My dad was taken too soon from us by this very preventable crime,” the victim’s son, Anthony DeVito, said.
DeVito's widow, Rosemary DeVito, said her husband of 40 years was a “great guy who would help anyone.”
“He was loving, kind, funny,” she said.
She said she has forgiven Specht, who apologized in court.
“He’s just a sad person,” she said. “He’s a man who’s obviously been an alcoholic all his life. Just a sad human being.”