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Lumumba Woods, age 50, of Manhattan, was sentenced to the maximum of seven years in prison in Nassau County Court on Tuesday, Jan. 24.
It came weeks after a jury found him guilty of second-degree assault, vehicular assault, and two counts of driving while intoxicated.
Prosecutors said it was around 9 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 18, 2020, when Woods lost control of his 2003 Acura MDX while speeding westbound on Sunrise Highway near the Wantagh State Parkway.
After speeding past one vehicle, he struck the center median, causing his vehicle to roll multiple times before coming to rest upright on the north shoulder of Sunrise Highway, police said.
One witness testified that Woods’ vehicle flipped over more than ten times.
The impact ejected a 58-year-old woman who had been sitting in Woods’ passenger seat, launching her approximately 20 feet from the vehicle, according to investigators. She suffered multiple broken bones and is now paralyzed from the chest down.
State Police troopers arrested Woods at the scene. Testing revealed he had a blood alcohol content of 0.12 percent.
“The victim suffered catastrophic injuries and is still unable to talk or walk, two years after the crash, due to this defendant’s reckless actions,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said following his conviction.
“Mr. Woods, who was one-and-a-half times the legal limit for alcohol, endangered every person on the road that evening.
"We wish the victim the very best as she continues to heal from this terrible crash.”
Woods previously served time in state prison after being convicted of second-degree murder in Suffolk County in 1992. He was released in 2014.
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