BWI Suspect in Fatal Great South Bay Crash Charged with Vehicular Homicide

A Dix Hills man was charged with aggravated vehicular homicide in a boating collision after he was indicted on Wednesday, September 12, following a in .

Brian Andreski, 27, pleaded not guilty to the in Suffolk County Criminal Court in Riverhead. He faces additional charges related to the June 23 crash that killed Christopher Mannino, including manslaughter, BWI, tax fraud and forgery.

Suffolk County Court Judge James Hudson ordered Andreski be held on bail for $250,000 cash or $500,000 bond.

Andreski was with a misdemeanor of operating a vessel while intoxicated (BWI) immediately following the crash.

Suffolk DA Thomas Spota said during the investigation prosecutors found  Andreski falsely reported he bought the speedboat and its trailer for $700 while he actually paid $19,500.

Mannino, 39, was one of five people aboard a 38-foot fishing boat on its way to a Mako Shark fishing tournament when Andreski’s 25-foot speedboat slammed into the vessel near a stanchion under the Robert Moses Causeway around 4:50 a.m. on June 23.

Mannino was thrown from the boat, and his body was found by divers about nine hours later, officials said. No one else on the fishing boat was hurt. Andreski and a passenger on the speedboat suffered non-life threatening injuries.

"This is obviously a terrible tragedy for both families," Andreski's attorney, Eric Sills of Albany, told Newsday on Wednesday.

According to then newspaper, the Andreski family remained silent as they left the courthouse.

Newsday reported many of Mannino's supporters wore bright green T-shirts demanding justice.

"You don't get into a boat and drive drunk," Mannino's sister, Nicole Altmann, told reporters. "They should've the death penalty. He's dirt."

If convicted on all counts, then Andreski faces a maximum of 32 years in prison.

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