Thursday, October 1, 2026
A 59-year-old Levittown man has pleaded guilty in a drunken-driving crash that killed a motorcyclist on North Jerusalem Avenue in North Bellmore last October.
Patrick Thompson pleaded guilty Feb. 25 before Judge Robert Bogle to aggravated vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of an incident without reporting, and aggravated driving while intoxicated; he is expected to be sentenced to 6 to 18 years in prison on April 2.
Thompson was driving west on North Jerusalem Avenue and attempted to turn left into a convenience store parking lot when his vehicle collided nearly head-on with a 2003 Harley-Davidson motorcycle traveling eastbound, operated by Daniel Bliss, 63, on October 26 of last year.
Bliss was thrown from the motorcycle and suffered fatal injuries. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Members of the Nassau County Police Department’s K-9 Unit searched the area and located Thompson more than an hour later.
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said Thompson’s blood alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit at the time of the crash.
"Instead of taking responsibility", Donnelly said that Thompson attempted to flee the scene, leaving Bliss to die. She added that Thompson "was found by K-9 officers cowering behind trees in a sump nearly a half mile away.”
Thompson was arrested Oct. 27 by Nassau County police homicide detectives. Upon his arrest, police observed signs of intoxication, and a blood sample taken about three hours after the crash showed a blood alcohol content of 0.18 percent, according to prosecutors.
