QUEENS — A driver was arrested for fatally hitting a 67-year-old man while driving while high on marijuana, officials said.
Wesley Leung, 46, who told police he'd smoked weed the day before and drank a single Heineken beer before driving, hit Jinhe Niu with his Ford SUV as Niu tried to cross 46th Avenue mid-block near 149th Street about 8:35 p.m., NYPD officials said.
Niu, who lived in the neighborhood, was pronounced dead at Flushing Hospital, police said.
"I was driving eastbound on 46th Avenue when the man jumped in front of my vehicle. It happened so fast that I did not have time to stop," Leung told police officer at the scene.
Leung, of Bayside, was questioned at the scene and told police that he "smokes marijuana whenever he gets a chance and he smoked marijuana the night before," according to prosecutors.
"I use marijuana at night after I put the kids to bed to relax, but I did not use any today," Leung told NYPD officer Mario Cannariato, according to prosecutors.
Leung said he had a Heineken with dinner, according to prosecutors. About 3 hours after the incident, tests showed he had a blood alcohol level of .037 percent, below the legal limit of .08 percent, prosecutors said.
Still, Leung failed roadside sobriety tests at the scene, prosecutors said.
"My office has zero tolerance when it comes to individuals getting behind the wheel while their ability to drive is impaired by alcohol and/or drugs," said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
He was arrested at the scene and arraigned on charges of vehicular manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol, prosecutors said. He was held on $150,000 bond and due back in court on June 28, prosecutors said.
Leung faces up to seven years behind bars, prosecutors said.
