The intersection of Northern Blvd. and 107 St. where a high-speed fatal collision killed a Brooklyn man who was driving to work at LaGuardia Airport on Wednesday morning. Via Google Maps
Feb. 28, 2025 By Bill Parry
An off-duty FDNY firefighter from Oakland Gardens is accused of driving three times over the legal speed limit while inebriated and high on cocaine and marijuana when he caused a pre-dawn collision that killed a Brooklyn man in East Elmhurst early Wednesday morning.
Michael Pena, 28, of 220th Street, was arraigned Thursday in Queens Criminal Court on a felony complaint charging him with manslaughter in the second degree, vehicular manslaughter, and other related crimes for speeding through a red light and t-boning 23-year-old Justin Diaz at the intersection of Northern Boulevard and 107th Street on the morning of Feb. 26.
Diaz, of Suydam Street in Bushwick, had the right of way as he entered the intersection under a steady green light.
A co-worker called Diaz a “caring and amazing friend” in a GoFundMe account. Courtesy of GoFundMe
“Drunk and reckless driving often have horrendous consequences,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.
According to the charges, at approximately 4:15 a.m., Pena was behind the wheel of a silver Mercedes Benz S63 Coupe traveling eastbound on Northern Boulevard at 83 miles per hour when he blew past a steady red light at 107th Street and slammed into a purple 2022 BMW 240 driven by Diaz, who was on his way to work at LaGuardia Airport.
Pena was allegedly inebriated and high on drugs when he rammed into a sports car driven by Justin Diaz as he was driving to work at LaGuardia Airport. He was pronounced dead at Elmhurst Hospital. Citizen App
The force of the impact sent his car into a parked vehicle. EMS rushed him to Elmhurst Hospital with severe trauma, where he was pronounced dead due to his injuries a short while later.
Pena stayed at the scene where a police officer from the 115th Precinct in Jackson Heights observed him to be in an intoxicated state, with a strong odor of alcohol on his breath, watery eyes, slurred speech and he was unsteady on his feet, according to the charges. Multiple breath tests indicated Pena had a blood alcohol content of .156 percent, which is above the legal threshold of .08 percent. He also had cocaine and marijuana in his system.
Pena was taken into custody and booked at the 115th Precinct, where he told a detective from the NYPD’s Highway District Collision Investigation Squad that he was driving his car after he had been bar-hopping with his friends on Bell Boulevard in Bayside the previous evening and at a sports bar in Jackson Heights shortly before the fatal collision.
Michal Pena told investigators he had a few drinks at Bourbon Street in Bayside before heading to another bar in Jackson Heights. QNS/file
“I had three drinks, they were basil drinks, I was at a bar on Bourbon Street and Bayside,” Pena said, according to the criminal complaint. I was there from 6:00 to midnight. I went to another bar, Yeras, we got there at one, and left the bar a few minutes before the collision.”
An off-duty FDNY firefighter admitted he was drinking at a Jackson Heights sports bar before he caused a high-speed fatal collision that killed a Brooklyn man who was driving to work at LaGuardia Airport on Wednesday morning. Via Google Maps
Yeras is a restaurant and sports bar located at 86-09 Northern Blvd., about a mile from the scene of the fatal crash, 20 blocks to the east.
“The defendant, an FDNY firefighter who was off duty, is accused of driving under the influence, running a steady red light and slamming into a 23-year-old motorist, killing him, as he drove more than three times the posted speed limit on Feb. 26,” Katz said.
Pena was also charged with assault, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and drugs, speeding and reckless driving.
Queens Criminal Court Judge Anthony Battisti set bail at $50,000 cash and $100,000 bond and ordered Pena to return to court on May 12. If convicted on the top count, Pena faces a potential maximum of up to 15 years in prison.
“Our shared roadways are not a racetrack,” Katz said. “My office will seek justice for the victim and his loved ones.”
Two passengers in Pena’s vehicle were transported to Elmhurst Hospital, where they were listed in stable condition. The FDNY suspended Pena for 28 days without pay while the investigation by the NYPD’s Highway District Collision Investigation Squad remains ongoing.
A friend of Diaz’s opened a GoFundMe account to help his family with the cost of his funeral.
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Katz lies.