MONTAUK, N.Y. (WCBS 880) — A Long Island woman was sentenced Thursday to three to nine years in prison for driving drunk and fatally hitting a 28-year-old bicyclist in Montauk.
Lisa Rooney, 32, of Montauk, pleaded guilty in March to aggravated vehicular homicide, second-degree manslaughter, driving while intoxicated and criminal possession of a controlled substance. She was sentenced Thursday by Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro.
“Every single time you get behind the wheel of a car while intoxicated or impaired, you assume the risk that you could kill someone,” said District Attorney Sini said. “It’s reckless, it’s selfish, and it’s entirely avoidable.”
Rooney had a blood alcohol content of at 0.18% – nearly three times the legal amount – when she got behind the wheel of her vehicle and headed northbound on Flamingo Avenue on Oct. 30, 2019.
According to Sini, she lost control of the vehicle around 6 p.m. and veered into oncoming traffic, overcorrected, drove onto the shoulder of the rode and struck John James Usma Quintero – who was riding his bike home from work.
Sini noted that Rooney also struck the guardrail on the northbound shoulder and drove up an embankment before her vehicle rolled over on its side.
Usma Quintero was transported to Stony Brook Southampton Hospital shortly after the incident, where he was pronounced dead.
“The victim was simply making his way home from work when his life was tragically cut short by this defendant’s actions,” DA Sini said. “No family should have to endure the loss of a loved one due to drunk driving, and we will continue to hold those individuals accountable who endanger the safety of our roadways.”
Rooney refused to take a breath test and a chemical test, but a search warrant for a chemical test of her blood by the DA’s office found that her blood alcohol content was more than double the legal limit nearly four hours after the crash.
Additionally, police officers at the scene found several bags of cocaine near Rooney’s vehicle and one bag of cocaine on the floorboard of her car.
Investigators determined she was driving at a speed of approximately 85 mph when she struck Usma Quintero.