Anthony Dickson was charged after a crash on the Grand Central Parkway in Queens killed Arianna Arregui, a 23-year-old rear-seat passenger. Police said the Honda he was driving lost control near the Steinway Street overpass in Astoria around 4:07 a.m. Sunday.
Arregui was ejected onto the roadway after the Honda struck a guardrail, hit a light pole and overturned. She was taken to Elmhurst Hospital with severe injuries and later pronounced dead.
Anthony Dickson of Brooklyn
Authorities identified Dickson as a 34-year-old Brooklyn man. They said he was charged with vehicular manslaughter and driving while impaired by drugs after the crash, and that he was not injured.
His arrest came later, after the crash had already turned from a traffic collision into a criminal case. The charges mean the case now centers on his driving and the condition police say they will allege at the time of the wreck.
Grand Central Parkway in Queens
Police first reported that a second vehicle was involved, then later determined the Honda was the only vehicle in the crash. That correction narrows the case to a single driver and a single vehicle on the westbound Grand Central Parkway in Queens.
The remaining question is what caused Dickson to lose control of the Honda before it struck the guardrail and light pole. For Arregui’s family and anyone else in the car, the immediate result is already settled: she did not survive the crash, and Dickson now faces the charges tied to it.
