Crime & Safety
Update: Cops ID Driver in Fatal Wrong-Way Crash
Driver of wrong-way vehicle dead, passenger critical, after two-car collision in westbound lane.
Police identified the driver who died in a fatal wrong-way crash on the LIE Sunday morning.
Police say Gustavo Palma, 23 of Flanders, was driving a 2008 Honda traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes of the LIE about 4:15 a.m. Sunday when it collided with a 2012 westbound Mercedes Benz east of Exit 41 at Route 106/107.
Palma's car careened into the concrete median and came to rest in the HOV lane. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
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His passenger, a 24 year-old woman, was transported to a local hospital where she was listed in critical condition, police said. Police have not released her identity.
Meanwhile, the Mercedes was spun around and came to rest on an exit ramp west of the collision. Its 49-year-old driver, Joe DeGuardia, was transported to an area hospital where he was being treated for non life threatening injuries. DeGuardia was released Tuesday.
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Both vehicles were impounded for safety checks, police said.
Detectives said the investigation is ongoing.
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