EAST MEADOW, N.Y. — A Long Island public safety officer is charged with fatally striking a pedestrian while driving drunk in a Town of Hempstead vehicle.

Nassau County police say Robert Core was on duty at the time of the accident late Thursday in East Meadow

Core was charged with second-degree vehicular manslaughter and with driving while intoxicated.

The accident occurred on Hempstead Turnpike, in front of the Nassau University Medical Center. The 50-year-old man who was struck died there a short time later.

Core also was taken to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

The name of his attorney was not immediately available.