Guilty plea for drunk driver

A Point Lookout man who was arrested in 2009 for leaving the scene of an accident that left a Long Beach resident dead pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter and driving while intoxicated on Aug. 13.

Shawn Gallivan, 22, was sentenced to three- to nine years in prison for first-degree vehicular manslaughter, aggravated DWI and leaving the scene of a fatal accident.

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said that Gallivan ran over New York City schoolteacher David King, 53, last Oct. 17 as King crossed East Broadway in Long Beach at about 3:10 a.m. According to Rice, Gallivan, who had spent the night drinking at the house of a friend and at the Tiki Bar, immediately left the scene of the crash, dropped off a female passenger and went to a friend's house.

King, who had worked as a New York City teacher for 31 years, was found lying in the street, bleeding and suffering from head trauma, by a Long Beach Fire Department EMT. He was taken by a Fire Department ambulance to the Long Beach Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at

3:30 a.m.

According to Rice, Gallivan's female passenger reported the accident to police a few hours later, and Gallivan was tracked down and arrested by Long Beach police at 11:25 a.m. Police also found his 2005 Ford Focus, which had a shattered windshield, at a friend's house in the 300 block of East State Street. Gallivan's blood-alcohol content at the time of the crash was estimated to be .22 percent, almost three times the legal limit, Rice said.

"This defendant's reckless decision to drink and drive not only killed Mr. King, but it permanently and irrevocably damaged Mr. King's family and the students he devoted his life to teaching," Rice said in a statement.

The fatality was the fourth in Long Beach in a span of 15 months. Joseph Shannon, 76, of Florida, had died two days after he collided with a school bus while riding a bicycle at Monroe Boulevard and East Olive Street in July 2008. On May 15, 2009, Evan Potts, 22, of Oceanside, drove over and killed Ian Sharrin, an engineer from Long Beach, at West Park Avenue and National Boulevard, in what police believe was a road rage incident. Then, on July 28, John Winter, 51, of Point Lookout, was struck and killed by a FedEx truck on East Park Avenue, between Neptune and Roosevelt boulevards.

In addition to his prison sentence, Gallivan, a graduate of Long Beach High School and a drum instructor, will be mandated to participate as a speaker in Rice's Choices and Consequences program. The program is presented at high schools throughout Nassau County and educates young drivers about the dangers of drunk, drug-influenced and reckless driving. Like other speakers in the program, Gallivan will be required to share his personal experiences and lessons learned from his offenses, Rice said.

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