The Queens District Attorney's office has charged an Albany man with vehicular manslaughter for the Friday morning crash that killed a hospital lab technician on his way to work in Queens.
Prosecutors say Alamin Ahmed, 22, was driving a Mercedes Benz at nearly 100 mph around 4 a.m. on Friday when he plowed into 52-year-old Daniel Crawford, who was driving his Toyota through a green light at the intersection of Parsons Boulevard and Union Turnpike in Jamaica.
Crawford, a Bloomfield, New Jersey resident and father of two, was on his way to work at Queens Hospital Center, where he reportedly worked as a phlebotomist. A security guard who witnessed the crash told the Daily News, "Physically, I haven’t seen anything like that in person. I’ve only seen things (crashes) like that on movies or television ... Those cars were so badly damaged. It was terrible.” An FDNY worker who arrived after the deadly crash told the News it "looked like an explosion."
Ahmed stayed at the scene, where police administered a breathalyzer, finding him above the New York State legal limit of .08 blood alcohol concentration. Data recovered from the Mercedes crash data recorder showed that Ahmed was driving at 97 mph one second before the collision, prosecutors said. The speed limit on most city streets is 25 mph.
Crawford was pronounced dead at the same hospital where he worked.
“The entire NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens community is saddened by the sudden loss of Daniel Crawford, a well-respected colleague who worked at the hospital for over 2-and-a-half years,” the hospital said in a statement Friday. “He will be deeply missed by all those who knew him and worked with him.”
In addition to the manslaughter charges, Ahmed has been charged with criminally negligent homicide and two counts of operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of all charges.
“Few choices are more selfish than driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs,” Queens DA Melinda Katz said in a statement. “In this case, the defendant is accused of getting behind the wheel while under the influence of alcohol and criminally disregarding the rules of the road with tragic, deadly results.”
The News also reports that Crawford welcomed a new baby grandson last week. His ex-wife, Lynette Harris, told the News that he planned to "go back for a nursing degree. He is humble and he would send positive Facebook messages every day at 5:30 a.m. on his way to work and that just uplifted people. Danny was a man who loved God and would do anything to help others, he loved working in the medical field as he was a lab technician and was a frontline health worker during COVID."
