{"id":146756,"date":"2026-02-27T00:00:30","date_gmt":"2026-02-27T00:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/146756\/"},"modified":"2026-02-27T00:00:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-27T00:00:30","slug":"queens-man-charged-with-drug-impaired-driving-after-hitting-crossing-guard-in-merrick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/146756\/","title":{"rendered":"Queens man charged with drug-impaired driving after hitting crossing guard in Merrick"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n \"Emergency <\/a><\/p>\n

Authorities have identified the driver accused of being high on drugs when he struck and critically injured a Nassau Police crossing guard Thursday morning in Merrick.<\/p>\n

Joshua Alvarado, 30, of Rosedale, Queens, was arrested and charged with driving while ability impaired by drugs, vehicular assault and second-degree assault after police say he drove a white Ford pickup truck onto a sidewalk and hit the 70-year-old guard near the Merrick Long Island Rail Road station.<\/p>\n

Alvarado is scheduled to be arraigned Friday, authorities said.<\/p>\n

The crossing guard, whose name has not yet been released, was on duty about 8:03 a.m., at the corner of Merrick Avenue and Sunrise Highway, when he was struck, police said.<\/p>\n

Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said the guard was hit \u201cby a driver who was high on some type of drug.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said the guard, wearing a reflective vest and hat, had just completed a crossing across Sunrise Highway and was returning to the sidewalk when the turning lane light turned green, according to a Newsday<\/a> report. Alvarado\u2019s truck was fourth in line at the light.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe appeared to have fallen asleep driving the car,\u201d Ryder said, noting that other motorists honked their horns before the truck lurched forward.<\/p>\n

As the vehicle turned and went north on Merrick Avenue, it veered wide, jumped the curb and mounted the sidewalk, striking the crossing guard, Ryder said in the Newsday report.<\/p>\n

Loves his job<\/p>\n

Officers and several bystanders rushed to render aid before the guard was transported by ambulance to Nassau University Medical Center, where he underwent emergency surgery.<\/p>\n

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said that the guard was recovering from surgery but described his injuries as \u201cvery, very serious.\u201d The county leader said he spoke with the guard\u2019s wife at the hospital and described the victim as a retired tugboat operator who has worked part-time as a crossing guard since 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is somebody that went out each and everyday with the thought of protecting our young people,\u201d Blakeman said in a New York Post<\/a> report.<\/p>\n

Blakeman also thanked the civilians who stopped to help.<\/p>\n

East Quogue man gets life for torturing, killing his friend in hours-long nightmare<\/a><\/p>\n

The incident comes just one month after Nassau Police Officer Patricia Espinosa was killed by an alleged drunken driver in Suffolk County.<\/p>\n

Donnelly again urged the public to avoid driving under the influence.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis driving while you\u2019re high \u2014 driving while you\u2019re drunk \u2014 has got to stop,\u201d she said. \u201cPeople\u2019s lives are on the line.\u201d<\/p>\n

Top: Emergency responders at the Merrick Avenue and Sunrise Highway intersection after the Nassau Police crossing guard was hit (GLI courtesy photo).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Authorities have identified the driver accused of being high on drugs when he struck and critically injured a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":146757,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4166,1626,61544,61545,61546,61547,1607,61548,61549,61550,7345,61551,9,24,63,61552,61553,122,124,123,61554],"class_list":{"0":"post-146756","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-queens","8":"tag-anne-donnelly","9":"tag-bruce-blakeman","10":"tag-crossing-guard","11":"tag-drug-impaired-driving","12":"tag-dui-crash","13":"tag-joshua-alvarado","14":"tag-long-island-rail-road","15":"tag-merrick","16":"tag-merrick-avenue","17":"tag-nassau-county-news","18":"tag-nassau-county-police-department","19":"tag-nassau-university-medical-center","20":"tag-new-york","21":"tag-new-york-city","22":"tag-nyc","23":"tag-patricia-espinosa","24":"tag-patrick-ryder","25":"tag-queens","26":"tag-queens-headlines","27":"tag-queens-news","28":"tag-sunrise-highway"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=146756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/146756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/146757"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=146756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=146756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=146756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}