An FDNY firefighter has been charged with murder and murder charges for a drunken misdemeanor accident on Long Island that killed a Queens teacher.
Joseph Norris, 38, who lost both of his legs in a collision, appeared in a wheelchair in Suffolk County Supreme Court on Wednesday where he pleaded not guilty to nine counts – including aggravated vehicular homicide and vehicular aggravated assault. Murder is involved. If convicted for the top count, he faces up to 25 years in prison.
Suffolk County District Attorney Robert Sini said in a statement, “It was a fearless tragedy done by someone to protect the safety of others.” “His blood-alcohol level was more than three times the legal limit when he decided to get behind the wheel of the car – a decision that proved to have fatal, disastrous consequences.”
After the November 20, 2020, crash on Sunken Meadow Parkway, Norris was initially charged with a misdemeanor count of driving while intoxicated.
According to prosecutors, the FDNY 14-year-old veteran of FDNY was allegedly killed when he left Smithtown Strip Club, where he stayed for hours, before his 2008 climb in Chevrolet Colorado.
He drove the 3.7-mile southeast in the southeast lane before allegedly hitting a 2007 Mazda CX7 SUV driven by Anthony Mariano on court paper charges at 7:30 pm. 44-year-old Mariano of Kings Park was pronounced dead at the scene.
According to his lawyer Anthony La Pinta, Norris was taken to South Shore University Hospital – where doctors had to cut both of his legs above the knee. Officials said a blood test showed they had a blood-alcohol level of .29 percent – three times the legal driving limit.
Justice Stephen Braslow set bail at $ 100,000 in cash on a $ 200,000 bond, which Norris posted immediately before leaving the courtyard left by his pregnant wife.
After the accident, the FDNY suspended Norris, who was assigned to Stair 107 in Brooklyn, News12 reported. Mariano’s bereaved Christine Azzolini told the station that the couple planned to marry this summer.
“I’m so angry – that was my whole future,” he said. Mariano was a beloved history teacher at Benjamin N. Cardozo High School in Bayside, Queens.
“According to the Post, Joseph Norris is a loving family man and a hero fireman who is supported by his family and his fellow firefighters.”
An FDNY spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment.
Additional reporting by Denise Clarke
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