Story by Ethan
On February 18th, 2026, the arrest of Nina Varinno, age 52, was announced by Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly. Nina Varinno was charged with Aggravated Vehicular Manslaughter as a B felony, second-degree Manslaughter as a C felony, second-degree Vehicular Manslaughter as a D felony, first-degree Vehicular Assault as a D felony, second-degree Vehicular Assault as an E felony, two counts of Driving While Ability Impaired by Drugs, Driving While Ability Impaired by Combined Drugs, and Reckless Driving. The arrest and charges against Nina Varinno were a result of an investigation handled by the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office.
According to the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office, at approximately 12:49 p.m. on July 12th, 2025, 58-year-old Lisa Pelaez and her 64-year-old husband were driving a motorcycle on the south service road of the Long Island Expressway located between New Hyde Park Road and Shelter Rock Road inNorth Hills, New York. At this time Nina Varinno was driving her 2025 Kia Sportage following behind the victims when she allegedly fell asleep at the wheel. The collision sent both motorcycle occupants flying as the motorcycle itself burst into flames moments later. Nina Varinno climbed out of her vehicle while sustaining minor injuries while Lisa Pelaez and her husband were transported to North Shore University Hospital — Manhasset. Lisa Pelaez suffered from severe blunt trauma that led to her death approximately two hours after the crash while her husband remained in the hospital for a month with multiple broken ribs, a fractured spine, fractures in both shoulders, and a collapsed lung. This required emergency surgery and intubation for 10 days. It’s alleged that prior to the crash Nina Varinno had been working as an Uber driver and stayed up to party, drink, and ingest drugs afterwards. Blood from the defendant unveiled active levels of cocaine and Xanax approximately four hours after the fatal crash. The subsequent investigation revealed that approximately an hour and twenty minutes prior to the fatal crash Nina Varinno was allegedly driving in a dangerous manner on the Cross Island Parkway before pulling over onto the shoulder. Witnesses reportedly told the defendant that she was not fit to drive, however she would allegedly ignore any warnings and continue to drive. At approximately 11:40 a.m. Nina Varinno crashed into the rear end of another vehicle on Marathon Parkway in Queens, New York. After this collision is when the defendant allegedly got into the fatal crash with the motorcyclists.
The Nassau County District Attorney’s Office stated that the charges against Nina Varinno are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
