By Michael Frazier
Newsday (New York)
Copyright 2006 Newsday, Inc.
An emergency medical technician has been convicted of killing an Elmont woman last year in a fiery hit-and-run car crash.
A Nassau jury found Michael Vines, 27, of Jamaica, guilty Tuesday of second-degree manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident in the July 31, 2005, crash in Hempstead that killed Elizabeth Demaio, 38.
He was also convicted of second-degree reckless endangerment, second- degree reckless driving and driving while impaired.
Demaio’s husband, Alessandro, attended the trial, prosecutors said.
“While he was gratified with the verdict, he’s still hurting,” prosecutor Kenneth St. Bernard said. “He just lost his wife a little over a year ago.”
Vines’ attorney, Mark Silverman of Freeport, said he plans to appeal.
“It was a tragic accident, but we don’t believe there was any criminality involved,” he said. “The jury was swayed by their emotions and the severity of the accident, not necessarily the facts.”
Last year, Vines and a friend were traveling in separate cars at high speed west on Hempstead Turnpike when their cars struck Demaio’s 1996 Honda Accord, causing it to explode and burst into flames, police said. Demaio had stopped to turn in to a Dunkin’ Donuts parking lot at the Hempstead Turnpike and Warwick Road intersection.
She was taking coffee to her husband, who worked then as a night security guard at nearby Belmont Park.
Vines, who was then an EMT at Hunter Ambulance in Inwood, was arrested after he walked back to crash site, minutes after driving from the accident and abandoning his Toyota Camry several blocks away.
Demaio was declared dead at the scene, leaving behind a daughter and her husband.
Vines’ friend, Joseph A. Thompson, then 24, of Norfolk, Va., pulled over and called 911 after the crash, police said. Thompson, a Navy serviceman, was later indicted on charges of second-degree manslaughter, reckless endangerment and reckless operation of a motor vehicle. His case is pending. His attorney, Mark Gann of Carle Place, couldn’t be reached for comment.
Vines is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 17. He faces a maximum of 5 to 15 years in prison on the manslaughter charge.