A drunken driving suspect charged in a predawn Queens wreck that left two men dead admitted plowing into the other vehicle after ignoring a stop sign, authorities charged Tuesday.
“I was driving,” bleary-eyed defendant Tamir Khan told police after the fatal 4:20 a.m. Monday wreck, according to a criminal complaint. “I blew the stop sign and I think I killed the man.”
Khan, 22, was arrested after police found the suspect in “an intoxicated condition” with bloodshot and watery eyes — along with with the smell of alcohol on his breath, the complaint said.
The suspect acknowledged drinking “a couple of Coronas and a shot of tequila” earlier in the night, according to the court document.
But a Breathalyzer test found Khan’s blood alcohol level was above the legal limit when checked two hours after the fatal crash, and police said his car was traveling at a high rate of speed with illegally tinted windows.
“This was a horrific collision that we allege was caused by the defendant’s complete disregard for the rules of the road and for the lives of other motorists and pedestrians,” said Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
“We will seek justice for the victims and their loved ones.”
The defendant was released Tuesday afternoon on $75,000 bail posted by relatives of his parents in Queens Criminal Court.
“You understand how serious this case is, I imagine?” the judge asked at the court appearance.
The Queens wreck came after an allegedly drunken Manhattan driver was busted for killing one man and injuring four others Sunday evening.
Queens victim Charles Harris was in the passenger seat of a Toyota when Khan broadsided the car with his Audi A4 near 117th St. and 111th Ave. in South Ozone Park on Monday, cops said.
Medics rushed Harris and driver Inderdeo John to Jamaica Hospital, where John, 64, died shortly after the crash, cops said. Harris, who suffered critical injuries, died late Monday, cops said.
The crash sent the victims’ sedan spinning into a wooden pole. Khan’s vehicle then struck two parked cars before stopping, cops said.
“My friend,” said Gregory, a neighbor of John. “He was a nice, cool guy.”
“We see each other often,” he added. “It was a real shocker for everybody. Everybody knows him.”
Khan was charged with vehicular manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and drunken driving.
“He has to pay the full price,” Gregory said of the driver. “You can’t be drinking alcohol and killing people. What do we have laws for? Simple as that, that’s why we have laws.”
Harris and John lived on the same block, about 11 blocks from the fatal crash.
John often drove older pals and neighbors around in his car, grief-stricken friends said.
“He was my personal driver,” Carolyn Dixon wrote on social media. “He took me to families’ home[s] who lost their loved ones to gun violence, took me to events, helped me distribute food and PPE to the community during the pandemic, took me to meetings and funerals; he was my family.”
“To me, if you drink and drive and kill somebody, you are NO different from a shooter who kills someone,” she added. “You are a MURDERER in my book!!!”
