Suffolk Man Gets Prison for Fatal DWI Crash

An Islip Terrace man was sentenced Friday at Nassau County Court in Mineola to one and 1/3 to four years in prison for a drunken driving crash on Wantagh State Parkway last year that killed his girlfriend, who was a passenger in the car.

Michael Bauer, 53, was convicted by a jury of manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter, reckless endangerment, reckless driving and two counts of driving while intoxicated on Oct. 23.

Bauer and his girlfriend, 59-year-old Mary McInerney of Hicksville, were driving nearly 85 mph northbound on the parkway after a night of drinking at a bar on Freeport’s Nautical Mile when Bauer lost control of his BMW 325i, skidded nearly 400 feet off the roadway and struck several trees before coming to a rest near a footbridge on Sept. 5, 2008, Nassau prosecutors said.

“Due to Mr. Bauer’s reckless decision to drink and drive, this crash was inevitable,” Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said in a statement. “My office will continue to aggressively prosecute those individuals who endanger innocent passengers and motorists by drinking and driving.”