The FDNY has fired a 28-year-old firefighter facing vehicular manslaughter charges for killing a LaGuardia Airport worker in a booze and drug-fueled Queens crash last month, the Daily News has learned.
Fire Commissioner Robert Tucker took swift action and terminated Firefighter Michael Pena once the troubled smoke eater returned to work after being suspended for 28 days without pay for the Feb. 26 crash, FDNY officials confirmed.
Victim Justin Diaz, 23, was on his way to his airport baggage handling job about 4:15 a.m. when a Mercedes-Benz driven by Pena traveling 83 mph in a 25 mph zone plowed into the driver’s side of his BMW, Queens prosecutors say.
Diaz, who was just a couple of blocks from home, died after being rushed by medics to Elmhurst Hospital Center.
Police charged Pea with vehicular manslaughter, DWI, and refusing to take a breath test. His license was suspended after his arraignment.
After a warrant was issued to draw Pena’s blood, investigators said he was also high on both cocaine and marijuana. His blood-alcohol content tested at 0.156%, nearly twice the legal threshold of 0.08, prosecutors say.
At his arraignment, Queens Criminal Court Judge Anthony Battisti set Pena’s cash bail at $50,000 or $100,000 bond, which the firefighter posted — a turn of events that upset the victim’s family.
He’s expected to face the criminal charges in a few weeks. His attorney, David Cohen, declined to comment when reached Friday about the firefighter’s termination.
Officials said Pena was a probationary firefighter and had been with the FDNY for less than a year. Because he was a probationary firefighter Tucker didn’t need to wait until a verdict was reached in the case to fire him.
Pena joined the department on March 24, 2024, and was assigned to Engine 304 in Queens Village when he was arrested.
Prosecutors said Pena was driving nearly 60 mph above the speed limit after a night of drinking at a bar on Bell Blvd. in Bayside, Queens. Surveillance footage from the bar showed him having his first drink around 6 p.m. — nearly 11 hours before the crash.
Surveillance footage obtained by The News shows Diaz behind the wheel of his BMW driving north on 107th St. As he approaches Northern Blvd., the sound of a fast-moving car grows louder. Seconds later, the speeding Mercedes comes into the frame and plows into the driver’s side of the BMW. The two cars then spin out of control toward 108th St., where the wrecked BMW crashes into a parked Toyota Sienna minivan.
The victim had the right-of-way, and Pena blasted through a steady red light, prosecutors say.
Two passengers in the firefighter’s Mercedes, both also 28-year-old men, were taken to Elmhurst Hospital Center and are expected to recover.
