{"id":234184,"date":"2026-05-16T21:59:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T21:59:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/234184\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T21:59:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T21:59:15","slug":"suspected-drunk-driver-seen-lying-on-ground-after-nyc-horror-crash-that-left-2-dead-will-face-criminal-charges-cops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/234184\/","title":{"rendered":"Suspected drunk driver seen lying on ground after NYC horror crash that left 2 dead, will face criminal charges: cops"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0driver who killed two people<\/a>\u00a0and badly injured three others\u00a0after barreling\u00a0onto an Upper Manhattan sidewalk\u00a0tested\u00a0well over the legal\u00a0driving\u00a0limit for\u00a0alcohol after the crash\u00a0and has been criminally charged, police and sources said Saturday.<\/p>\n

Elvin Suarez of Morningside Heights<\/a> was hit with multiple counts of manslaughter, vehicular assault and DWI, cops said.<\/p>\n

His breathalyzer test came back .1,\u00a0a police source said, well above the\u00a0legal\u00a0blood alcohol content\u00a0limit\u00a0of\u00a0.08.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

NYPD attending to the driver of the fatal sidewalk car crash in Morningside Heights. Obtained by NY Post<\/p>\n

Michael Saint-Hilaire, a 35-year-old father of triplets, and doorman Jason Negron, 46, were killed when Suarezlost control of his car near Amsterdam Avenue and West 109th Street in Morningside Heights around 6 p.m Friday,\u00a0about two blocks from his home,\u00a0according to police.<\/p>\n

The chain-reaction crash began when the driver sideswiped a car on East 108th Street, onlookers said. The crash involved seven vehicles\u00a0and ended when Suarez\u2019s carplowed into a group of people sitting outside a barbershop, cops said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Suspected drunk driver who killed two people and badly injured three other in a horrific sidewalk crash in Morningside Heights will be criminally charged, according to the police. Christopher Sadowski for NY Post<\/p>\n

The two men were rushed to the hospital in critical condition but couldn\u2019t be saved, cops said.<\/p>\n

A 36-year-old, 44-year-old and a 51-year-old man were taken to St. Luke\u2019s Hospital in critical condition, police said.<\/p>\n

Suarez was taken to a hospital and his blood was tested for alcohol, police sources said.<\/p>\n

A dramatic photo from the scene apparently shows Suarez lying on his back on the sidewalk as an NYPD officer holds his hand right after the crash. Witnesses said the front of his black Mercedes-Benz crushed one man against an electronic parking kiosk.<\/p>\n

Witness David Lawrence, 65, called the wreck a \u201chorror show\u201d and said the out-of-control driver \u201cpinned\u201d one man. leaving him \u201cdisfigured.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Elvin Suarez was hit with two counts of manslaughter, three counts of vehicular manslaughter, two counts of vehicular assault and one count of DWI. Christopher Sadowski for NY Post<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was basically crushed between the parking post and the black Mercedes,\u201d Lawrence told The Post right after the crash.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The victims\u00a0and the driver were childhood pals, a friend said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know all of them,\u201d a man who was at the scene said, refusing to provide his name. \u201cI know, Jason and Mike. I know the guys in the hospital. \u2026 We grew up together.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the men who was hospitalized needs hip surgery and has spinal injuries, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m in shock,\u201d the man said, adding that his friends were in stable condition. \u201cI still can\u2019t believe it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suarez has lived in the area for 40 years, the man said.<\/p>\n

Glenn Walcott, Saxon at the church next door to the driver\u2019s building, knows Suarez, whom he said hangs out\u00a0next to the church\u00a0with a group of men, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey sit out here and drink all the time,\u201d Walcott said. \u201cYou see the bottles over there? I ain\u2019t say they\u2019re his. I\u2019m just saying, this is where they sit.\u201d<\/p>\n

The men leave bottles and other garbage outside the church, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey come out here, put their chairs, put their little table, play dominoes,\u201d Walcott said, adding he didn\u2019t see them on Friday before the crash because he wasn\u2019t at the church. \u201cAnd drink beer, they are here, like, all day pretty much, drinking beer.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The\u00a0driver who killed two people\u00a0and badly injured three others\u00a0after barreling\u00a0onto an Upper Manhattan sidewalk\u00a0tested\u00a0well over the legal\u00a0driving\u00a0limit for\u00a0alcohol…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":234185,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[49957,91758,12255,9,56,35913,63,65,64,91744,73121],"class_list":["post-234184","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-city","tag-christopher-sadowski","tag-elvin-suarez","tag-morningside-heights","tag-new-york","tag-ny","tag-ny-post","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-headlines","tag-nyc-news","tag-vehicular-assault","tag-vehicular-manslaughter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234184","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=234184"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234184\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234184"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234184"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234184"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}