Oceanside man charged in deadly crash

Brian Steele, the Oceanside resident whose girlfriend faces 59 years in prison for mowing down and killing a Hempstead woman when she allegedly drove his van while high on drugs, was indicted by a grand jury on Wednesday for his role in the crash and charged with second-degree manslaughter.

Nassau County prosecutors said Steele, 29, allowed 18-year-old Kayla Gerdes, of Freeport, to drive his van while she was high on drugs April 20 — just minutes before the van jumped a curb and struck 69-year-old Rebecca Twine-Wright, a doctor who was mowing her front lawn at her Cathedral Avenue home.

The indictment against Steele comes after a 28-count indictment was brought against Gerdes on June 8. She faces 59 years in prison and pleaded not guilty to a long list of charges.

Steele faces up to five to 15 years in prison after a grand jury slapped him with a four-count indictment on June 16 that included the second-degree manslaughter charge, criminally negligent homicide, second-degree reckless endangerment and unlawful possession of marijuana. His attorney, Michael DerGarabedian, was not immediately available for comment.

Although Steele was not originally charged in the April 20 crash, police said at the time that they were investigating whether he had knowledge that Gerdes was driving while high on painkillers when she took control of the vehicle

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said Steele acted in concert with Gerdes, and said that Steele knew that Gerdes was under the influence of several drugs, including OxyContin, when he turned the wheel over to her at about 9:40 a.m. Gerdes drove the van - with Steele in the passenger seat - on a straight road in good weather as she headed south on Cathedral, prosecutors said, when she swerved onto the front lawn of Twine-Wright's home, striking Twine-Wright and pinning her underneath the front axle of the van.

"Steele's reckless conduct in allowing Gerdes to drive the van that day, knowing that she was high on numerous drugs, certainly shows a total lack of judgement and his shared responsibility in Dr. Twine-Wright's death," Rice said.