Drunk Indian-origin driver kills 2 teenagers in US car crash
Darpan News Desk IANS, 05 May, 2023 11:53 AM
New York, May 5 (IANS) A drunk Indian-origin pick-up truck driver slammed into a car killing two 14 year-old boys on the spot and injuring two others in Long Island, New York, police said.
Amandeep Singh, 34, was driving his 2019 Dodge Ram south in the northbound lanes on North Broadway in Jericho on Wednesday when he smashed into a 2019 Alfa Romeo four-door sedan with four male teens inside, Nassau County Police said on Thursday.
While two teens -- identified as Drew Hassenbein and Ethan Falkowitz -- were pronounced dead at the scene, the other two, aged 16 and 17, were taken to a local hospital for treatment of injuries, Fox News reported.
Describing the scene, Nassau County Police Detective Capt Stephen Fitzpatrick said it was "probably one of the most catastrophic scenes I've seen in a long time".
Singh, a resident of Roslyn, New York, fled the scene after the initial collision and struck another vehicle -- a 2023 Volvo driven by a 49-year-old woman and a 16-year-old male passenger, police said, adding that both the victims were treated at the scene and released.
Singh was arrested the same day and transported to a local hospital for minor injuries.
He has been charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, first-degree vehicular manslaughter, second-degree manslaughter, leaving the scene of an auto accident with a fatality, driving while intoxicated, and two counts of second-degree assault.
Singh was arraigned on Thursday at First District Court in Hempstead.
According to prosecutors, Singh's Blood Alcohol Concentration was twice the legal limit at the time of the collision.
The court heard that he had previously been convicted of a DWI (driving while intoxicated) and gang assault as a teenager.
The bodies of eight-month-old Aroohi Dheri, her parents Jasleen Kaur, 27, and Jasdeep Singh, 36, and her uncle Amandeep Singh, 39 were found in an "extremely remote" area near the intersection of Indiana and Hutchins roads. Jesus Salgado is said to have had a long-standing feud with the family and was a former employee in their trucking business.
Indian-origin people across the US have often been targets of robbers because they are believed to have lots of jewellery. The four, who had been under surveillance, were caught in another suburb, New Hyde Park, where they had targeted a house after following a woman, police said.
Claudio Campos, 28, attacked Avtar Singh in broad daylight as he was walking home from work through the Tib Street area of the City Centre on June 23. Campos, who was with his partner at the time, proceeded to walk up behind Avtar before violently punching him to the head. Singh fell into the middle of the road where he stayed unconscious until a passer-by called for an ambulance.
Quoting hate crime statistics 2021-22, Gill, an MP from Birmingham, said hate crimes against Sikhs rose by 169 per cent in comparison to a 38 per cent increase in reported religious hate crimes overall. The 2001 census recorded 336,000 Sikhs living in Britain. Gill said 301 hate crimes against Sikhs were reported in 2021-22, up from 112 in 2020-2021.
Jatinder Singh, 37, and his partner, Thevamanogari Manivel, 40, appeared by video link from prison in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday, where they were committed to stand trial over theft and other charges, the Canberra Times reported. Crypto.com intended to refund Manivel $100 but she was erroneously transferred $10,474,143.
The walls of India K' Raja restaurant, owned and operated by Tony Sappal, were spray-painted with derogatory words and phrases targeting Asian Americans. "For 27 years, this has been home. Nobody has ever displayed that kind of anger or hate to us," Sappal told the Richmond Times Dispatch.
