Driver Charged After Pedestrian Killed on Northern Boulevard
Prosecutors said Salvatore Sassone was speeding and impaired by alcohol when he hit Eric Wexler, the 74-year-old pedestrian listed in the city crash record as killed at Northern Boulevard and 217th Street on June 11.
What We Know
Eric Wexler, a 74-year-old Glen Oaks resident, was crossing Northern Boulevard at 217th Street at about 10:04 p.m. on June 11, 2025, when a 47-year-old driver in a 2017 Chevy Tahoe headed east hit him, police told local outlets. The city crash record lists one pedestrian killed and no other injuries. Police said Wexler was taken to North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset with head and body trauma and died there, and that the driver remained at the scene. Months later, prosecutors identified the driver as Salvatore Sassone and said he had been speeding and impaired by alcohol; he was indicted on charges including criminally negligent homicide.
A driver hit Eric Wexler as he crossed Northern Boulevard
The crash happened at about 10:04 p.m. on June 11, 2025, at Northern Boulevard and 217th Street in Queens. The city crash record lists one pedestrian killed and no other injuries.
Police told local outlets that Eric Wexler, 74, was crossing at the corner when a 47-year-old driver in a 2017 Chevy Tahoe headed east on Northern Boulevard hit him. Wexler suffered head and body trauma and was taken to North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, where he died.
Police described the crossing as outside the signalized path
The official record places the fatal pedestrian crash at the intersection of Northern Boulevard and 217th Street. Police later told reporters that Wexler was crossing north to south outside a marked crosswalk and without the pedestrian signal.
Police identified the pedestrian and prosecutors later identified the driver
Police identified the pedestrian as Eric Wexler, 74, of Glen Oaks. Later reporting on the Queens indictment identified the driver as Salvatore Sassone, 48, of Westbury, Long Island.
The Tahoe driver remained at the scene
The official vehicle record lists a 2017 Chevrolet sport utility vehicle traveling east and going straight before the crash. Police told reporters the driver remained at the scene.
Prosecutors alleged speeding and alcohol impairment
Early police accounts said no charges had been filed immediately after the crash. Months later, amNY and QNS reported that a Queens grand jury indicted Sassone on charges including criminally negligent homicide, operating a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, failure to exercise due care, speeding, and driving without a license.
According to the indictment as described in that report, prosecutors said Sassone was speeding on Northern Boulevard while impaired by alcohol when he hit Wexler. Sassone was released on his own recognizance and ordered to surrender his license, which the article reported was already suspended.