Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced the indictment of a Floral Park man on charges including manslaughter, for allegedly driving under the influence of drugs at a high rate of speed and crashing into a vehicle on Jericho Turnpike, killing the driver, in December 2021.
Arhum Tanveer, 19, was indicted by a grand jury and arraigned today before Judge Terence P. Murphy on charges of Manslaughter in the Second Degree (a C felony); Assault in the Second Degree (a D violent felony); Vehicular Manslaughter in the Second Degree (a D felony); Operating a Motor Vehicle While Under the Influence of Drugs (an unclassified misdemeanor); Reckless Endangerment in the Second Degree (an A misdemeanor); and Reckless Driving (an unclassified misdemeanor). The defendant pleaded not guilty, and bail was set at $200,000 bond, $100,000 cash, and $1 million partially secured bond. The defendant’s license was also suspended. Tanveer is due back in court on September 15, 2022. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.
“The defendant was allegedly exceeding 100 mph in his vehicle just before impact, and never made an effort to brake before the deadly collision,” said DA Donnelly. “As we prosecute this tragic case, our thoughts are with Maricela Donaire’s family.”
DA Donnelly said, according to the charges, on December 12, 2021, at approximately 10:39 p.m., the defendant was allegedly driving a 2016 BMW 340i xDrive eastbound on Jericho Turnpike in Old Westbury at more than 100 mph while impaired by drugs when he crashed into a 2009 Chevrolet Impala as it pulled out of the driveway of Westbury Manor onto Jericho Turnpike. The driver of the Impala, 30-year-old Maricela Donaire, was killed in the collision.
Tanveer’s vehicle allegedly continued down Jericho Turnpike after the crash until it overturned and came to rest upside down on top of a large landscaping boulder next to Westbury Manor.
The defendant was transported to NYU Langone – Long Island where he was treated and released.
Donaire was pronounced dead at the scene of the collision.
Tanveer surrendered to detectives of the Nassau County Police Department and Old Westbury Police Department on September 1, 2022.
The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Bureau Chief Stephanie Dellinger of the Vehicular Crimes Bureau. The defendant is represented by Henry Jones, Esq.
The charges are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless found guilty.