Felony Charges For Driver In Crash That Killed Bayside Teacher

BAYSIDE, QUEENS — An FDNY firefighter is facing felony charges after prosecutors determined he was drunk behind the wheel when he hit and killed another driver while going the wrong way on a Long Island parkway last year.

Joseph Norris stands accused of aggravated vehicular homicide, vehicular manslaughter, reckless driving, reckless endangerment and multiple DWI counts in connection with the fatal crash on Nov. 20, 2020, Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini announced Wednesday.

Anthony Mariano, 44, a longtime social studies teacher at Bayside's Benjamin N. Cardozo High School, was killed in the crash, which unfolded on the Sunken Meadow State Parkway near exit SM3.

Mariano had taught at Cardozo for 17 years, the New York Daily News reported.

Sini, the district attorney, said Wednesday that Norris' blood-alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit at the time of the crash.

"This was a senseless tragedy caused by someone who was sworn to protect the safety of others," Sini said in a statement. "There is no excuse for it."

Norris, a resident of Babylon, Long Island, joined the FDNY in 2006.

He is due back in court April 15.

Patch editor Michael DeSantis contributed to this report.