FDNY Firefighter Charged In Fatal Wrong-Way Smithtown Crash: Sini

SMITHTOWN, NY — An FDNY firefighter was charged in connection with a November wrong-way crash that left a man dead on the Sunken Meadow State Parkway in Smithtown, Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini announced Wednesday.

Joseph Norris, 38, of Babylon, was drunk during the crash that killed Anthony Mariano, 44, of Kings Park, Sini said. Norris faces charges including aggravated vehicular homicide and vehicular manslaughter. Norris, if convicted, faces a maximum sentence of eight and one-third to 25 years in prison.

"This was a senseless tragedy caused by someone who was sworn to protect the safety of others," Sini said via the news release. "His blood-alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit when he made the decision to get behind the wheel of a car — a decision that proved to have fatal, devastating consequences. There is no excuse for it. My Office will seek to hold him accountable and obtain justice for the victim."

Norris was driving a 2008 Chevrolet Colorado southbound in the northbound lane of the Sunken Meadow Parkway near exit SM3A in Smithtown when he collided with a 2007 Mazda CX7 SUV at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 20, 2020, New York State Police said. Mariano, who was driving the Mazda, was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said.

Norris was brought to Southside Hospital in Bay Shore with serious injuries, police said. Norris' blood alcohol content was 0.29 percent, prosecutors said.

Norris, employed by the FDNY since 2006, was charged with aggravated vehicular homicide (a class B felony); first-degree vehicular manslaughter (a class C felony); second-degree manslaughter (a class C felony); second-degree vehicular manslaughter (a class D felony); aggravated DWI; two counts of DWI; reckless driving; and second-degree reckless endangerment.

Norris was arraigned Wednesday, and bail was set at $100,000 cash or $200,000 bond, Sini said. He is being represented by Anthony LaPinta and is due back in court April 15.

Mariano was a longtime social studies teacher at Benjamin N. Cardozo High School in Bayside.

"He was such an amazing teacher who made social studies fun and interesting to learn about, by presenting it in such a way that made you genuinely want to listen to him teach it," a former student wrote on Mariano's online obituary page. "He is one of very few teachers from Cardozo that I remember particularly well to this day because of the impression he left upon me."

He was set to marry his girlfriend of 10 years, Christie Azzolini, in 2021, according to an online obituary by his family. They met at a Pearl Jam concert.

Mariano's family has asked that donations be made in his name to the John Theissen Children's Foundation.