A Brooklyn man appeared in court on Friday accused of driving drunk when he blew through a stop sign and crashed, leading to the death of his wife who had been sitting in the passenger seat.
Rey Perez, 27, was arraigned one day after crashing his red Nissan Altima at an Astoria intersection around 4 a.m., according to police and prosecutors. The man faces charges of drunk driving, vehicular manslaughter and driving without a license, among others.
The Queens District Attorney’s Office alleges Perez was behind the wheel early Thursday morning when he crashed into another driver near 47th Street and 28th Avenue, before losing control and slamming into two parked cars. But police didn’t find Perez or his car near that crash scene.
Prosecutors claim officers responded to a street in Maspeth, roughly four miles from the original crash site, where he tried getting help for his wife, Bridget Enriquez.
The 29-year-old woman was found unconscious in the passenger seat, covered in blood. She was rushed to a nearby hospital where she was ultimately pronounced dead.
According to prosecutors, responding cops said they noticed Perez slur his speech and smelled strongly of alcohol. At the hospital, his blood alcohol content apparently read .113 percent.
“The consequences of driving drunk and speeding are as tragic as they are predictable. As alleged in the complaint, the defendant’s decisions killed his own wife and put the lives of other motorists in danger,” Queens DA Melinda Katz said in a statement.
Perez is due back in court next week. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison. Attorney information for the Brooklyn man was not immediately known.
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