Drunk Indian American Man Sentenced for Maximum of 25 Years in Prison for Killing Two Teens and Injuring Two Others in Car Crash
- Amadeep Singh, 36, a construction business owner in Roslyn, New York, smashed his pickup truck into a sedan with four male teens inside on May 3, 2023, killing Drew Hassenbein and Ethan Falkowitz, both 14-year-old elite tennis players in the eighth grade.
Amandeep Singh, the drunk Indian American who killed two teens and injuring two others on Long Island, New York, has been sentenced to a maximum of 25 years in prison. Singh, 36, a construction business owner in Roslyn, smashed his pickup truck into a sedan with four male teens inside on May 3, 2023, killing Drew Hassenbein and Ethan Falkowitz, both 14-year-old elite tennis players in the eighth grade.
Singh had pleaded guilty last month to driving drunk and high, and crashing pickup truck at 90 miles an hour into a car carrying the two high school tennis players and two of their teammates. The devision came after his “lawyers failed to suppress damning police body-worn camera footage that showed him drunk, incoherent and hiding beside a dumpster about 500 feet from the crash,” NewsDay reported.
After he was helped out from the wreckage of his car, Singh fled the scene, instead of aiding the wounded boys or sticking around for authorities to arrive. During the Feb. 7 sentencing hearing, he apologized. “The disregard I showed for others makes me sick,” Newsday quoted him as saying. “If anyone should have died, it should have been me.” His attorney James Kousouros told the publication that his client’s “eyes were down, he was crying. You know, this is just an unspeakable tragedy.”
Zachary Sheena, 19, the driver of the demolished four-door Alfa Romeo carrying the boys also spoke at the sentencing hearing. “No matter how long Singh spends behind bars it doesn’t compare to the pain and suffering that he goes through every day,” he said, as reported by Newsday. “This coward has sentenced me to a lifetime of suffering,” Sheena told the court from the witness stand. ”While I see everyone around me moving forward in their lives, it’s impossible for me to forget what happened in my past. I am forced to live in the past and relive that nightmare over and over. I worked for everything in my life. Each and everything I did, I earned. And you, you stole it all from me.”
At the time of the crash, Hassenbein and Falkowitz were sitting on the right side of the vehicle. The 17-year-old driver and another 16-year-old passenger survived the crash. They were admitted to a local hospital for internal injuries. All four were members of Roslyn’s tennis team and were on their way home after a victory. The teens were wearing their seat belts and the driver had a valid license, police said.
Singh spent the evening of May 3, 2023, “drinking Scotch and tequila and snorting cocaine at three bars before getting behind the wheel of his red 2021 Dodge Ram TRX pickup,” Newsday reported, citing Nassau prosecutors said. He reportedly hit speeds over 90 mph south in the northbound lanes of North Broadway in Jericho before hitting a 2019 four-door Alfa Romeo carrying Drew and Ethan. The impact flipped the truck and sent it skidding down the road on its side. Investigators said they found a bottle of Casamigos tequila under the seat.
According to Newsday, “toxicology reports taken four hours after the crash found Singh had a 0.15 blood alcohol level — nearly double the legal limit — along with cocaine in his system.” Police also found empty bottle of tequila behind Singh’s driver’s seat.