Route 347 at Alexander Avenue, St. James · Saturday, January 31, 2026, about 6:07 a.m.
A 21-year-old Hauppauge man was sentenced to 7 1/3 to 22 years in prison for a drunk-driving crash in St. James that killed Patricia Espinosa, 42, a Nassau County police officer who was driving to work at the Fifth Precinct.
What happened
According to the Suffolk County District Attorney and the defendant's own admissions at his plea, Matthew Smith had been drinking in Patchogue and then at Jake's 58 Casino Hotel. At about 6:07 a.m. he left the casino with a passenger in his Chevrolet Silverado pickup, headed north on Alexander Avenue, and drove through a red light at Route 347 at about 70 miles an hour, where the limit is 30. The truck struck Officer Espinosa's car.
Officer Espinosa was pronounced dead at Stony Brook University Hospital. Smith's passenger suffered pelvic and spinal fractures and a serious head injury. A blood test showed Smith's BAC was .20, and police found a bottle of rum and a shot glass in the truck. He was arrested by the Suffolk County Police Department.
The plea and the sentence
On June 11, 2026, Smith pleaded guilty before Supreme Court Justice Timothy P. Mazzei to the full indictment, including two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide (class B felonies), first-degree vehicular manslaughter, second-degree manslaughter, two counts of aggravated vehicular assault, aggravated DWI and DWI. On July 20, 2026, he was sentenced to 7 1/3 to 22 years. As part of the plea he also forfeited the Silverado in a separate civil case brought by the DA's Asset Forfeiture and Intelligence Bureau.
What the case shows
Two aggravating factors, not one. Aggravated vehicular homicide requires reckless, impaired driving that causes a death, plus an aggravating factor. Here there were two: a BAC of .18 or higher, and a death along with serious physical injury to another person.
A plea to everything can still mean less than the maximum. The top count carries up to 8 1/3 to 25 years. He pleaded guilty to the whole indictment without a trial and received a sentence below that maximum.
The car is part of the case. Suffolk prosecutors can pursue forfeiture of the vehicle in a serious DWI case, and the truck was forfeited as part of the resolution.
Related: aggravated DWI and high BAC · felony DWI
This article is drawn from public court filings, official releases and news reports, and is provided for general information only. A charge is an accusation, not proof of guilt. Every person is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court. Nothing here predicts the outcome of any other case, and nothing here is legal advice.
Sources
- Suffolk County District Attorney: Hauppauge Man Sentenced to 7 1/3 to 22 Years in Prison for Intoxicated Driving Crash That Killed Nassau County Police Officer
- ABC7 New York: Off-duty Nassau County police officer killed in car crash; driver charged with DWI
- ABC7 New York: Man sentenced in drunk driving death of Nassau County police officer