Derrick Ackerman, 34, of 580A Quincy Street, Brooklyn, was speeding east on Sunrise Highway near Milburn Avenue around 8:30 a.m. when suddenly his 1987 Mercury Marquis veered left across three lanes of traffic and jumped the curb. The car then struck a lamppost, snapped it, and then finally struck a Mobil gas station stanchion, said police.
Ackerman and his passenger, Peter Campbell, 34, also of Quincy Street in Brooklyn, were trapped in the car for about two hours and resuced with the jaws of life by fire, police and emergency service personnel, said Det. Sgt. Richard Laursen.
The men were on their way to an auto shop in Freeport in order to have the car's gas tank fixed, said Laursen. Police did not say where the men had been drinking before the accident.
Campbell was pronounced dead at the scene, having suffered massive head injuries. Ackerman was taken to South Nassau Medical Center where he was being treated for a fractured hip and leg and a collapsed lung. Ackerman was charged with DWI en route to the hospital. He was due to be arraigned on Monday and further charges may be pending, said Laursen. He did not comment on the defendant's blood alcohol content.
A man named George, who declined to give his last name, was working at A-1 Transmissions on Sunrise Highway at the time of the accident and heard tires squealing and a loud crash. He looked out his window and saw the wreakage. "I didn't see the accident, but I heard it. I was the one who called the police," he said. "It was a scary thing to see. Thank God no one else was hurt. All I can say it was pretty bad. It was a very big cleanup."
