MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2005

D.A. BROWN: NEW JERSEY MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER AND DWI IN FATAL HIT AND RUN INCIDENTS
One Dead, Four Injured; Faces up to Life in Prison

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown today announced that a Stockton, New Jersey, man has been arraigned and is being held without bail on second-degree murder, vehicular assault, driving under the influence of alcohol and other charges in connection with two hit-and-run incidents that killed a noted Indian musician and injured four other individuals.

District Attorney Brown said, “The defendant is accused of getting behind the wheel while intoxicated and striking and seriously injuring a pedestrian before minutes later slamming into a car containing four young people. By his alleged actions, the defendant displayed a wanton and reckless disregard for life that clearly illustrated the lethal consequences resulting from driving while intoxicated. People should remember that a car is a weapon and, like a gun, it can kill – unless it is in responsible hands.”

The District Attorney identified the defendant as Anand Hazare, 29, of 12 Grafton Road in Stockton, New Jersey. He was charged with one count of Murder in the Second Degree, one count of Vehicular Assault in the Second Degree (Vasean’s Law), two counts of Operating a Motor Vehicle While Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drugs, two counts of Leaving the Scene of an Incident Without Reporting/Personal Injury, three counts of Reckless Endangerment in the First Degree and one count of Falsely Reporting an Incident in the Third Degree. If convicted, he faces up to 32 years to life in prison.

The District Attorney said that the criminal complaint charges that on October 16, 2005 at approximately 3:00 a.m., the defendant was operating a 1997 Mitsubishi Eclipse southbound on Lefferts and Linden Boulevards in Ozone Park, Queens, when his vehicle struck Mohammed Nasir, 41, who was attempting to cross the street. The defendant then allegedly fled the scene. Minutes later, the defendant allegedly drove through a steady red light at the intersection of 124th Street and Linden Boulevard at a speed in excess of 60 miles per hour and slammed into a GMC Suburban, ejecting one of the passengers, Shivand Patraju, 21, causing him to sustain injuries which resulted in his death, and also injuring the other three occupants of the Suburban, Shastri Solgrim, 20, Avikash Ramnarine, 19, and his sister, Avina Ramnarine, 22. The defendant allegedly fled the scene, and shortly thereafter, called 911 and reported that he had been carjacked prior to the two motor vehicle incidents.

District Attorney Brown said that the complaint additionally charges that the defendant had bloodshot, watery eyes, a flushed face and a strong odor of alcohol on his breath. An intoxilyzer test administered to the defendant resulted, according to the complaint, in a reading of .12 percent blood alcohol content. The legal limit in New York is .08 percent. The complaint further charges that the defendant stated to police that he had “four or five scotch and sodas” and that he had lied when reporting the carjacking incident.

The District Attorney said that Shivand Patraju, a noted musician of classical Indian music, sustained serious injuries when he was thrown from the Suburban and died a short time later as a result of those injuries. The pedestrian, Mohammed Nasir, is presently in critical condition and on life support in the intensive care unit of a local hospital.

District Attorney Brown said that the defendant was arraigned earlier today before Queens Criminal Court Judge Stephen Knopf, who remanded the defendant without bail and set a return date of October 19, 2005.

Assistant District Attorney Travis W. Hunter of the District Attorney’s Homicide Investigations Bureau is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Peter T. Reese, Bureau Chief, Peter J. McCormack III, Deputy Bureau Chief, and Richard B. Schaeffer, Senior Trial Attorney, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Charles A. Testagrossa and Deputy Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Daniel A. Saunders.

It should be noted that a criminal complaint is merely an accusation and that a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.