East Setauket man pleads guilty in LIE crash that blinded woman
An East Setauket man admitted he was drunk and drug-impaired when he sped into a disabled minivan on the Long Island Expressway, triggering a chain crash that left one woman permanently blind in one eye.
Matthew Sheehy of East Setauket admitted in Suffolk County Supreme Court that he was drunk and drug-impaired when he tore down the Long Island Expressway and set off a three-vehicle crash near Exits 62 and 63 that left four people hurt, including one woman who permanently lost vision in one eye.
Sheehy, 48, pleaded guilty on May 20 before Acting Supreme Court Justice Philip Goglas to aggravated vehicular assault, driving while intoxicated and three counts of assault in the third degree. Prosecutors said he is expected to receive a sentence of 3 to 9 years in prison when he returns to court on June 30.
The crash happened shortly after midnight on Nov. 15, 2024, at about 12:21 a.m., when Sheehy was driving a 2022 Ram pickup truck eastbound on the Long Island Expressway at a high rate of speed and weaving across lanes, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. Prosecutors said he veered onto the right shoulder and struck a disabled 2010 Chrysler Town & Country minivan that was parked there with one occupant inside. The force of that impact pushed the Chrysler back into the highway’s travel lane and HOV lane, where it was hit again by a 2018 Honda CR-V carrying three occupants.
One passenger in the Honda suffered a skull fracture, brain bleeding and permanent loss of eyesight in one eye. The other occupants in the Chrysler and the CR-V also needed treatment at local hospitals.
Sheehy was taken to a hospital and later arrested after authorities determined he had been intoxicated by alcohol and impaired by drugs. Prosecutors initially indicted him on Feb. 19, 2025, on a broader set of charges that included aggravated vehicular assault, assault in the second degree, vehicular assault, multiple DWI counts and drug-impaired driving counts. The plea narrowed the case but left intact the core allegation that impaired, reckless driving turned a disabled vehicle on the shoulder into the start of a highway pileup.
District Attorney Raymond Tierney said the victim “could easily have died” and described Sheehy’s conduct as selfish and reckless. The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Jeffrey Rosenheck and Raymond Varuolo of the Vehicular Crime Bureau, and investigated by Detective Joseph Bianco of the Suffolk County Police Department’s Major Case Unit. Sheehy was represented by Michael Brown, Esq.
The plea lands against a broader enforcement debate in Suffolk County and Albany, where Tierney and coalition partners have argued that New York lags behind 46 states in addressing drugged-driving enforcement. Prosecutors have said the state’s law is hampered by a statutory list of drugs, making some impairment cases harder to bring, a gap they have pointed to as highway crashes continue to leave Suffolk drivers and passengers paying the price.
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