Staten Island man gets 2 to 6 years for drunken Gowanus Expressway crash that killed friend
A drunken, speeding BMW driver will spend two to six years behind bars for killing his friend in a dramatic crash on the Gowanus Expressway in Brooklyn.
Mark Dookhan, 32, of Staten Island, learned his fate from Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Jane Tully in court Tuesday morning, almost two years after the crash that claimed the life of 30-year-old Karen Diaz.
“Karen died in horrendous circumstances. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy,” her younger brother Kevin Saldarreaga said in a written victim impact statement. “The day he took the life of my sister was the day a piece of me died, too. I have learned this is a piece that you cannot fill.”
In his statement, which was read in court by Assistant District Attorney Edward Kerins, Saldarreaga recalled the day Dookhan and Diaz met, while the siblings were on a Caribbean cruise. Diaz was 22, her brother was 16; the two sneaked into a club.
“Karen met Mark by the bar, and she found out he was from Staten Island, which I guess was the only thing they had in common,” her brother recalled. “After my sister was not interested in conversing with him further, he began to get aggressive and refused to leave her alone,” he recounted.
Saldarreaga stepped in, and the two squared off, ready to fight, until Dookhan realized he was just 16.
“That night always lingered in my brain, as the night I protected my sister and now, nine years later, I’m once again defending my sister from that same criminal that took my sister’s life,” Saldarreaga said. “He clearly never changed and why couldn’t he learn his lesson the first time and leave my sister alone?”
Dookhan had a blood level of 0.12% and was going 75 mph when he slammed into the back of a tractor trailer in Bay Ridge about 1:15 a.m. on March 10, 2021, prosecutors said.
The truck was stopped in traffic near the Verrazzano Bridge, and Dookhan hit the brakes only a half second before impact.
The crash killed Diaz, his passenger, who was described as a fun-loving music fan who emitted positive energy.
Dookhan admitted to having four or five vodka drinks in Manhattan before the crash, but he initially denied being behind the wheel of the BMW 535i, prosecutors said. He placed the blame on an “unidentified female” who ran away after the crash.
On Dec. 13, he admitted he was the driver and pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter.
“This defendant’s reckless decision to get behind the wheel after drinking alcohol cost an innocent woman her life and endangered many others,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said Tuesday. “He has now been held accountable for his criminal conduct.”
