Greater Long Island coverage is funded in part by Toresco & Simonelli, a boutique injury and family law firm in West Islip. They fight for their clients. Click here to get in touch.
Authorities have identified the driver accused of being high on drugs when he struck and critically injured a Nassau Police crossing guard Thursday morning in Merrick.
Joshua Alvarado, 30, of Rosedale, Queens, was arrested and charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs, vehicular assault and second-degree assault after police say he drove a white Ford pickup truck onto a sidewalk and hit the 70-year-old guard near the Merrick Long Island Rail Road station.
Alvarado is scheduled to be arraigned Friday, authorities said.
The crossing guard, whose name has not yet been released, was on duty about 8:03 a.m., at the corner of Merrick Avenue and Sunrise Highway, when he was struck, police said.
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said the guard was hit “by a driver who was high on some type of drug.”
Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said the guard, wearing a reflective vest and hat, had just completed a crossing across Sunrise Highway and was returning to the sidewalk when the turning lane light turned green, according to a Newsday report. Alvarado’s truck was fourth in line at the light.
“He appeared to have fallen asleep driving the car,” Ryder said, noting that other motorists honked their horns before the truck lurched forward.
As the vehicle turned and went north on Merrick Avenue, it veered wide, jumped the curb and mounted the sidewalk, striking the crossing guard, Ryder said in the Newsday report.
Loves his job
Officers and several bystanders rushed to render aid before the guard was transported by ambulance to Nassau University Medical Center, where he underwent emergency surgery.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said that the guard was recovering from surgery but described his injuries as “very, very serious.” The county leader said he spoke with the guard’s wife at the hospital and described the victim as a retired tugboat operator who has worked part-time as a crossing guard since 2023.
“He is somebody that went out each and everyday with the thought of protecting our young people,” Blakeman said in a New York Post report.
Blakeman also thanked the civilians who stopped to help.
East Quogue man gets life for torturing, killing his friend in hours-long nightmare
The incident comes just one month after Nassau Police Officer Patricia Espinosa was killed by an alleged drunken driver in Suffolk County.
Donnelly again urged the public to avoid driving under the influence.
“This driving while you’re high — driving while you’re drunk — has got to stop,” she said. “People’s lives are on the line.”
Top: Emergency responders at the Merrick Avenue and Sunrise Highway intersection after the Nassau Police crossing guard was hit (GLI courtesy photo).
