Press Release

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that John Ankelman was indicted by a grand jury on charges of aggravated vehicular homicide, driving while intoxicated and other crimes for a December 26, 2025, collision during a snowstorm that seriously injured a 63-year-old man who later died. This incident took place near the Long Island Expressway in Suffolk County. The Queens DA’s office was named special prosecutor for the case.

DA Katz said: “As alleged, the defendant spent hours at a bar consuming alcohol before getting behind the wheel drunk and during a snowstorm. A court-ordered blood test later determined that his blood alcohol content was .18 – more than twice the legal limit. Tragically, his actions caused the death of a 63-year-old Army veteran who was simply trying to get home safely. The family of victim Nelson Gonzalez will now spend the rest of their lives mourning his senseless loss. My office is committed to holding drivers who break the law accountable for their actions.”

Ankelman, 59, of Farmingdale, Long Island, was arraigned today on an 11-count indictment charging him with two counts of aggravated vehicular homicide, vehicular manslaughter in the second degree, criminally negligent homicide, aggravated driving while intoxicated, two-counts of driving while intoxicated, reckless driving, operating a motor vehicle in violation of license restrictions and two-counts of speeding.

Suffolk Supreme Court Justice John Collins ordered the defendant to return to court on April 20.  If convicted, the defendant faces up to 25 years in prison.

DA Katz said that, according to the charges and investigation, on December 26, 2025, Ankelman was a patron at the Changing Times Pub on Melville Road in Farmingdale, between approximately 3:12 p.m. and 9:45 p.m. At approximately 10 p.m. that evening, Ankelman drove his Mazda SUV northbound on Pinelawn Road approaching the intersection at South Service Road in Melville. At the same time, Nelson Gonzalez, 63, was driving a Toyota Tacoma southbound on Pinelawn Road and attempted to make a left turn, through a green light, onto eastbound South Service Road.

Ankelman allegedly hit the victim with his car head on. Gonzalez sustained severe body trauma and was taken to a local hospital, where he died on January 5. Ankelman was not injured in the crash.

At the time of the collision, police officers observed that Ankelman allegedly had bloodshot, glassy eyes, slurred speech, was unsteady on his feet and had a strong odor of alcohol on his breath.

A court-ordered blood test determined that at the time of the crash the defendant’s blood alcohol content was over the legal limit of .18 for the aggravated driving while intoxicated and aggravated vehicular homicide charges.

As alleged in the indictment, Ankelman’s driving privileges were restricted by the Department of Motor Vehicles at the time of the crash.

The investigation was conducted by members of the Suffolk County Police Department’s 2nd Precinct with the assistance of the Suffolk County Police Department Digital Forensics Unit, the Suffolk County Crime Lab, and the NYPD Highway District Collision Investigation Squad.

Assistant District Attorneys Brian Cox and Matthew Hauszpigel of the District Attorney’s Vehicular Homicide Unit are prosecuting the case, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Jonathan Selkowe, Unit Chief of the District Attorney’s Vehicular Homicide Unit and Deputy Bureau Chief of the Homicide Bureau, and John Kosinski, Bureau Chief of the Homicide Bureau, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Shawn Clark.