An alleged drunk driver faces up to 15 years behind bars for crashing his car in March along the Gowanus Expressway in Bay Ridge, killing his 30-year-old passenger, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced Tuesday.
Mark Dookan, 31, was indicted Monday for allegedly rear-ending a tractor trailer with his BMW while intoxicated near Exit 17 at 92nd Street on the Rock-bound side of the highway on March 10, which killed 30-year-old Karen Diaz, who sat in the front passenger seat.
“This defendant allegedly made the regrettable decision to get behind the wheel after drinking alcohol,” Gonzalez said in a statement on May 18. “The evidence makes clear that he was in no condition to operate a vehicle, and that his recklessness cost the life of his passenger, a young woman with her whole life ahead of her. We will now seek to bring the defendant to justice.”
Brooklyn’s top prosecutor slapped Dookan with eight charges, including second-degree manslaughter, second-degree vehicular manslaughter, second-degree assault, and operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol.
Investigators alleged that the driver was barreling down the expressway at 75 miles-per-hour — well above the 45 miles-per-hour speed limit — and hit the brakes only a half-second before impact with the stationary truck around 11:20 pm.
Dookan allegedly showed signs of being drunk and initially refused to take a breathalyzer test.
Cops then arrested him for drunk driving and found that he allegedly had a blood alcohol content of 0.12 percent, above the legal limit of 0.08 percent.
The Staten Island man had previously been convicted of driving while intoxicated within the last 10 years, according to police.
He was arraigned before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Dineen Riviezzo Monday and was let out on a $300,000 bail with an order to return to court on July 26, according to the DA’s office.
