STATEN ISLAND — An intoxicated woman found passed out behind the wheel of a car near the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge has died in a police holding cell, officials said.
Triborough Bridge and Tunnel officers found Nicole Garbellotto, 34, in the driver's seat at the toll plaza of the bridge on Wednesday at about 6 p.m., a spokesman for the MTA said.
EMS arrived, gave Garbellotto the anti-overdose drug Naloxone and took her to Staten Island University Hospital North, the spokesman said.
She was treated, then charged with driving while intoxicated and operating a motor vehicle while impaired by drugs, the NYPD said.
Garbellotto, of Gravesend, was taken to a holding cell in the 120 Precinct where officers later found her unconscious on Thursday at about 4:35 a.m., police said.
EMS arrived at the precinct and Garbellotto was pronounced dead.
Garbellotto was remembered as a "gentle soul" and an "amazing aunt" on a GoFundMe page started by a woman who said she was her sister.
"Tonight I lost that piece of joy I had in my life. My big sis Nicole, passed away this evening suddenly and tragically," Dana Marie Lana wrote on the page to raise $8,000 for the funeral expenses. "You will be greatly missed as a sister, daughter, a great friend and an amazing aunt."
Police said an investigation is ongoing.
