Drunken Driver Arrested After Serious LIE Crash: Police

HAUPPAUGE, NY — A 57-year-old Oyster Bay man was charged with driving while intoxicated following a crash on the Long Island Expressway that critically injured a tow truck driver Wednesday morning.

Joseph Savasta was driving a 2019 Mercedes-Benz west on the LIE near Exit 56-Motor Parkway when his vehicle struck a westbound 2020 Hino flatbed tow truck at about 4:05 a.m., according to Suffolk police.

The Mercedes overturned and came to rest next to the median while the tow truck veered off the right side of the highway and ended up in a wooded area, police said.

The tow truck driver, 37-year-old Christopher Francis, was ejected from the vehicle. Francis, of Medford, was airlifted via police helicopter to Stony Brook University Hospital where he was listed in critical condition, police said.

Savasta was taken to South Shore University Hospital in Bay Shore, where he was treated for minor injuries. He will be held at the Third Precinct for arraignment at First District Court in Central Islip on Thursday.

Detectives asked anyone with information on the crash to call the Major Case Unit at 631-852-6555.