Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced that a West Hempstead man was sentenced today to up to 21 years in prison for a December 2021 crash on Peninsula Boulevard in Woodmere that killed a teenage passenger and injured four others.
Arlin Aguilera, 37, was convicted on August 21, 2024, after a jury trial in absentia by Judge Robert A. Schwartz of Aggravated Vehicular Homicide (a B felony); Manslaughter in the Second Degree (a C felony); two counts of Assault in the Second Degree (a D felony); two counts of Assault in the Third Degree (an A misdemeanor); and two counts of Driving While Intoxicated (an Unclassified Misdemeanor).
The defendant was sentenced today to 7 to 21 years in prison. NCDA recommended a sentence of 8-1/3 to 25 years in prison.
“Liel Namdar was excited to be reunited with her friends from summer camp and hopped into the back of the car with them, ready for a fun night ahead. But tragically, Liel never left that car alive, because Arlin Aguilera, drunk and speeding, barreled into the vehicle and killed her,” said DA Donnelly. “Aguilera fled the jurisdiction days before his trial and remained a fugitive from justice until October when he was arrested by the Nassau County Police Department Fugitive Squad and U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force. We used every tool at our disposal to ensure that this defendant was found and held accountable for the lives that he ripped apart. I thank the NCPD and U.S. Marshals for their persistent efforts. Drunk driving continues to be an epidemic on our roadways, and NCDA remains focused on educating drivers about the perils of driving while impaired and holding drivers accountable for flouting our laws and endangering our streets.”
DA Donnelly said that on December 11, 2021, at approximately 10:54 p.m., the defendant was driving over 70 miles per hour while intoxicated in a 2014 RAM 1500 pickup truck northbound on Peninsula Boulevard.
Aguilera then crashed into an Audi Q5 as it made a turn in front of the defendant’s vehicle from Edward Avenue into the southbound lanes of Peninsula Boulevard.
Fifteen-year-old Liel Namdar suffered severe head trauma and was killed in the collision. The victim driver was seriously injured, suffering a severe traumatic brain injury, clavicle fracture and jaw fracture.
Three additional teenage passengers in the Audi also sustained various injuries.
The defendant was arrested in Woodmere on December 12, 2021, by members of the Nassau County Police Department.
Aguilera fled the jurisdiction before his trial was scheduled to begin on August 12, 2024. He was arrested on October 27, 2024, in Uniondale by detectives from the NCPD Fugitive Squad and the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force.
Senior Assistant District Attorney Brianna Ryan of the Vehicular Crimes Bureau is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Bureau Chief Michael Bushwack and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for the Litigation Division Kevin Higgins. The defendant is represented by Mitchell Elman, Esq. and Jason Krinsky, Esq.