HWY. DEATH LEAP
Bolts from ‘drunken’ gal pal’s car
A Queens man demanded to take over the wheel from his allegedly drunken-driving girlfriend, and when she refused, he leaped from the passenger seat of her moving car — and was killed by another vehicle on the Grand Central Parkway.
The girlfriend, paralegal and mother of two Savittrie Beria-Lackhan, 34, lived.
Arrested at the scene of Saturday’s pre-dawn tragedy, she blew a .209 on a Breathalyzer test, more than twice the legal limit of .08 percent, prosecutors said.
The couple had been at a bar in Valley Stream, LI, and she admitted to having guzzled Hennessey and ginger ale cocktails.
Victim Arif Hoosein jumped from the front passenger seat of Beria-Lackhan’s 2015 Mercedes at about 5 a.m. and was struck by another car near Little Neck Parkway in Queens, authorities said.
Moments before he leaped, Hoosein, of Floral Park, had demanded that Beria-Lackhan pull over so he could take the wheel, prosecutors said at her arraignment Saturday night.
Hoosein was pronounced dead — just days before his 31st birthday — at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, officials said.
The driver who struck him stayed at the scene and was not charged.
BeriaLackhan was charged with felony drunken driving. Bail was set Saturday night at $20,000.
She had a prior DWI in 2013 in Nassau County, according to prosecutors.
Hoosein’s stunned relatives are “still trying to understand what happened,” said his uncle, Mahmoud Hussein.
“The family is in deep shock, grieving right now,” Hussein said outside their home Saturday. “No parent is prepared to bury their child. This is so very painful for the parents, grandparents, cousins and siblings.”
Hoosein was a “miracle baby” because his birth was premature, relatives said.
“His birthday was going to be Tuesday . . . and it is so devastating to have him go like this,’’ said Hussein. “So we wish everyone to pray for him and his family and help us get through this.”
Hoosein’s parents “were just out of it. The whole family is taking it real hard,” one neighbor said.
“He was a young guy,” another neighbor said.
“It’s very hard to bear.”