Queens prosecutors upgraded charges against an alleged drunken driver accused of hitting and killing a 63-year-old Ronkonkoma man.
Munshi Abdullah was charged with vehicular manslaughter, manslaughter, driving while intoxicated and driving without a license.
Prosecutors said the 26-year-old Jamaica man was speeding in an Audi westbound Grand Central Parkway when he struck Frank Avino, who was placing traffic cones in the left lane as part of a construction crew.
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Avino, an electrician for College-Point-based Welsbach Electric Corp., hit the Audi’s windshield before going airborne and landing on top a large construction vehicle.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Avino had been standing behind the construction vehicle with its arrow light flashing, indicating that the left lane was closed, authorities said.
Prosecutors said Abdullah had a blood alcohol content of .21 percent, nearly triple the legal limit of .08 percent.
He reportedly told NYPD officers and that he was drinking from midnight to 3 a.m. that morning and that he was driving because his friends were too drunk to drive.
Bail for Abdullah was set at $350,000. He faces up to 15 years in prison, if convicted, and is due back in court July 25.





