Driver going 121 mph while filming himself gets up to 12 years in fatal North Babylon crash

A Lindenhurst man clocked at 121 mph and recording himself on his cellphone plowed into the back of an SUV on the Southern State Parkway two years ago, killing a 49-year-old West Babylon father and injuring four others.

On Friday, he learned just how much speed would cost him.

Felix Pantaleon, 24, received a prison term of four to 12 years for the September 2024 crash in North Babylon that killed Reynaldo Collado, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney announced.

“Driving at 121 mph is not a mistake. It is a deliberate choice,” Tierney said. “This defendant made that choice, which resulted in the tragic death of 49-year-old Reynaldo Collado and injuries to four others.

“Today, he is being held accountable for that deadly decision,” the DA added.

Pantaleon during his guilty plea admitted he was driving a 2014 Honda Civic west on the Southern State Parkway about 10:30 p.m. on Sept. 22, 2024, when he began cutting off vehicles and weaving between lanes, Tierney said.

The Civic’s event data recorder put his speed at about 121 mph — more than double the parkway’s speed limit — at the moment he slammed into the rear of a 2009 Honda CR-V driven by Collado.

The impact sent both vehicles off the roadway and into the woods along the parkway. Collado died at the scene.

A passenger in Collado’s SUV suffered serious injuries, including a fractured vertebra and a fractured pelvis. Three other passengers in Collado’s vehicle were treated at local hospitals.

Investigators later determined that Pantaleon had been using his cellphone to record himself driving recklessly in the moments before the crash.

Pantaleon pleaded guilty Sept. 4 to second-degree manslaughter, second-degree assault, three counts of third-degree assault and reckless driving.

_{Top: Felix Pantaleon (booking photo provided by SCDA).}