Cheryl Bergenstock drank nearly a bottle of rum before alleged DWI crash that killed ex-News12 reporter Alan Goldsand, prosecutor says

The Bethpage woman charged in the drunken-driving crash that killed former News12 reporter Alan Goldsand, one of the outlet’s original finance reporters, drank nearly a full 750 mL bottle of rum before getting behind the wheel, prosecutors told a Nassau County jury on Monday during opening arguments.

Cheryl Bergenstock, 66, a mother and housewife, stands charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, three counts of vehicular manslaughter, aggravated driving while intoxicated and other charges after she crossed the double yellow line on Round Swamp Road in Bethpage on June 28, 2024, smashing head-on into Goldsand’s red Toyota Corolla, authorities said.

She has pleaded not guilty.

Her blood-alcohol level about an hour after the crash reached 0.20%, more than double the legal limit to drive, authorities said.

Nassau prosecutor Alexandra Laird said Bergenstock started drinking around 5 p.m. at her friend’s home, where she went after picking up a 750 mL bottle of Malibu rum — an 8-minute drive from her own home.

An afternoon cocktail of the coconut-flavor liquor mixed with orange juice turned to many, the prosecutor said.

“When she went to leave that night, that bottle was nearly empty,” Laird said.

Her friend, who is expected to testify, tried to stop her from leaving around 7:20 p.m., according to court testimony. The friend offered to drive her home. She offered to call her husband to pick her up.

“The defendant had options,” Laird said.

On the short trip home, prosecutors said Bergenstock swerved repeatedly, driving nearly 80 mph on the two-lane road where posted speed limit was 40 mph.

“This defendant was driving while highly intoxicated, she crossed over into incoming traffic and head on into Mr. Goldsand,” she said.

The impact of the crash trapped Goldsand, a longtime journalist and the former president the New York Financial Writers’ Association, behind the wheel of his car, the prosecutor said.

The crash broke his back, pelvis and both femurs, Laird said. It also lacerated his liver, she said.

The whole time, the prosecutor said, Bergenstock never slowed down.

“She did not brake, she was so drunk her foot did not step on the brake pedal before slamming into Mr. Goldsand,” she said.

A medevac helicopter flew him to North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, where he died the following day, authorities said.

At the scene, Laird said, Bergenstock repeatedly told first responders that she was “really, really drunk.”

Defense attorney Steve Politi attacked the crash investigation in his opening statement, telling the jury that prosecutors will not be able to prove their case.

The lawyer said Nassau County detectives did not perform a crash scene investigation, and prosecutors did not talk to several witnesses to the crash.

“They did the most incomplete, pathetic investigation that you’ve every seen in your life,” Politi said. “This was a complete and utter failure on the part of the government on nearly every level.”

Juliet Goldsand, the victim's daughter, took the stand first after opening statements. She described her father as "a very young 82-year-old," who enjoyed pickleball and playing the violin. He would perform in the Nassau Pops Symphony Orchestra and the Massapequa Philharmonic.

She described waking the morning after the crash to several voicemail messages on her phone from police, her mother and North Shore University Hospital with news of her father's injuries.

Her father was unconscious in the hospital when she got there.

"I've never seen so many wires," she said.

Goldsand's daughter told the jury that her father was so fragile that doctors told her that if he went into cardiac arrest, he would die.

She agreed to sign a do-not-resuscitate form on behalf of her father, she said, after doctors told her that he would never fully recover.

"Every major bone in his body was broken," she said. "If they were able to stop the bleeding, they said he would most likely be in a facility for the rest of his life. He was too fragile to be put in a scan."

She struggled with the decision, but she ultimately signed the form because she thought it would be difficult for her father to live that way.

"He was a very independent person, he took care of everyone in his community," she said "It looked like he would be in a persistent vegetative state."