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Incident location, Long Island
What Happened
Diana Kutateladze, 36, of Oceanside was driving 81 mph in a 55 mph zone with a blood-alcohol content of 0.15% when she caused a six-vehicle crash on the Southern State Parkway that killed two people and injured six others, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly announced Friday. The BAC reading was nearly double New York’s legal limit of 0.08%, according to prosecutors.
The fatal collision occurred just after 10 p.m. on March 15 near Exit 17S in Malverne, when Kutateladze’s 2020 Cadillac Escalade sideswiped another vehicle while traveling westbound on the Southern State Parkway, Nassau Assistant District Attorney James Taglienti said during Friday’s arraignment. The Escalade spun out of control and launched over a metal guardrail, crashing head-on into a 2016 Toyota Highlander traveling in the eastbound lanes.
An 82-year-old man and his 88-year-old wife were killed instantly in the collision, prosecutors said. The couple were leaders at the Pentecostal City Mission Church in Far Rockaway and were returning from church when the crash occurred. “They never stood a chance. They were killed instantly,” Donnelly said during a news conference after the arraignment. The 88-year-old passenger was decapitated in the crash and the 82-year-old’s body “was completely crushed,” the district attorney said, describing the collision as catastrophic due to its sheer power.
The 71-year-old driver of the Highlander, identified as a member of the couple’s church, suffered fractured ribs, a heart injury, a compound fracture of his hand and other serious injuries, according to Donnelly. “The passenger side of the Highlander was destroyed,” she said, noting that the 82-year-old man was sitting in the front passenger seat while the 88-year-old woman was in the back.
Kutateladze’s husband suffered broken bones, head trauma, a brain bleed and other critical injuries and had to be cut out of the Escalade by rescue crews. He was transported to Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital, where he remains hospitalized more than a month after the crash. The husband was initially placed on a ventilator but has since stabilized and is expected to survive, prosecutors said. The couple has four children, Donnelly noted.
Three additional vehicles were involved when motorists “with nowhere to go” slammed into one another during the chain-reaction crash, leaving those drivers with severe whiplash, back pain and a knee injury, according to prosecutors. The Southern State Parkway was closed for several hours following the collision.
Kutateladze told investigators at the crash scene that she had been drinking whiskey before driving, Taglienti revealed during the court hearing. However, she initially lied to officers about the extent of her drinking, telling them she only had “one drink with a little bit of whiskey,” Donnelly said. Kutateladze also told police she had been driving alone, even as rescue crews were working to extract her critically injured husband from the wreckage of the Escalade. “I don’t believe anything that she said to the police was absolutely correct,” Donnelly stated.
Location & Road Context
The crash occurred near Exit 17S in Malverne on the Southern State Parkway, one of Long Island’s major east-west transportation arteries. This section of the parkway carries heavy traffic between Nassau County communities and connects to several major north-south routes. The area where Kutateladze’s vehicle crossed the median guardrail and entered oncoming traffic represents a particularly dangerous scenario on divided highways, where head-on collisions typically result in severe injuries or fatalities due to the combined speed of both vehicles.
Our local incident database contains 294 recorded accidents in Nassau County, highlighting the ongoing traffic safety challenges throughout the area’s busy roadway network.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
Kutateladze was arraigned Friday at the Nassau County Courthouse in Mineola, where she pleaded not guilty to vehicular homicide, vehicular manslaughter and other drunken-driving charges outlined in a 23-count indictment. Acting state Supreme Court Justice Howard Sturim ordered her to remain in custody during the hearing. The defendant appeared in a wheelchair due to injuries she suffered in the crash and sobbed loudly through much of the proceeding.
If convicted on all charges, Kutateladze faces between 8⅓ to 25 years in prison. Justice Sturim scheduled her next court appearance for May 20. Her attorney, of the Legal Aid Society of Nassau County, declined to discuss the case with reporters after the arraignment.
Prosecutor Taglienti raised questions about Kutateladze’s eligibility for free legal representation, and Justice Sturim ordered her to either retain private counsel or provide documentation proving financial need before her next court appearance.