Two arrests on Hempstead Turnpike

Police in Franklin Square made two separate arrests for vehicular assault on July 27 following similar incidents on Hempstead Turnpike, in which an allegedly inebriated driver collided with another car to set off a dangerous chain reaction, according to the Nassau County Police Department.

The cases sent a combined total of six people, including a 5-year-old girl, to the hospital.

Around 10 a.m., police report that 24-year-old Charles Eid of West Hempstead was on drugs and driving a Jeep SUV eastbound on Hemptead Turnpike near Rintin Street when he rear-ended another SUV stopped at a red light. The latter car lurched forward into the crosswalk and struck an unidentified 50-year-old pedestrian, who is now in the hospital with critical head trauma.

Eid underwent a hospital evaluation after complaining of neck and back pain, police said. No other injuries were reported from this accident.

Later in the afternoon, around 3 p.m., police report that 60-year-old Kevin Roberts of Franklin Square was intoxicated and driving an Oldsmobile westbound on Hempstead Turnpike when he tried to turn onto Claffin Boulevard. He then collided with a Toyota traveling in the opposite direction, which in turn struck another car and a metal pole.

The impacts made the Toyota spin out of control, and a 5-year-old girl, not wearing a seat belt at the time, flew from the car, police say. She was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries and is listed in stable condition.

No other injuries were reported, though four additional passengers also went the hospital for evaluation.

Eid faces charges of second degree vehicular assault and driving while ability-impaired. Roberts faces charges of aggravated vehicular assault (indicating a blood-alcohol content of .18 or more), second-degree assault and driving while intoxicated.

Both men were arraigned on July 28 in Hempstead's First District Court.