Highway worker killed by speeding Queens driver on Nassau Expressway, DA's office says

A driver who allegedly struck and killed a state highway construction worker has been charged with manslaughter, assault, leaving the scene of a fatality, reckless driving and other charges, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Sunday morning.

Isabel Alvarez, 44, of the Bronx, was directing traffic Friday morning near Exit 1N on the Nassau Expressway, just north of Kennedy Airport in Queens, wearing a reflective safety vest and carrying a sign that read "STOP/SLOW." The left lane was closed and marked with multiple traffic drums, authorities said.

Just before 7:30 a.m., Daveanand Budhai, 25, of South Ozone Park, was driving at high speed in a 25-mph zone when his car struck the barrels and then hit Alvarez, the district attorney's office said. Budhai fled the scene and, after driving about a mile to 134 Street and South Conduit Avenue, called 911 to request assistance for injuries to his hands, authorities said.

NYPD officers responding to the call found "significant front-end damage" to Budhai’s Infiniti sedan. The windshield was shattered, and "blood and glass were inside the vehicle as well as fluorescent marks on the hood and roof of the vehicle," according to the district attorney's office.

"Isabel Alvarez was simply doing her job as a flag person at a construction site when this defendant barreled his sedan into her and threw the woman’s body 168 feet and into the shoulder of the roadway," Katz said in a statement. "The defendant was ignoring the laws of the road, speeding and using a construction zone as his personal shortcut when his actions took the life of the worker."

State Department of Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez said in a statement: "Every day our workers risk their lives in name of highway safety. Today’s tragic fatality is a stark reminder to the traveling public to slow down and move over, pay attention, respect work zones, and please, keep all of our workers safe."

Budhai could face 22 years in prison if convicted, according to the district attorney's office.

His defense lawyer, Ben Mejia of the Queens Legal Aid Society, did not immediately respond to a call requesting comment.