NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A 51-year-old man was sentenced to 4 to 12 years in prison for fatally striking a teen with a stolen car as he was trying to escape police while high on crack cocaine, authorities said Wednesday.
“A young man’s life was cut short because of this defendant’s reckless criminal conduct,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney. “This sentence will help to protect the public and hopefully give the victim’s family a small measure of closure.”
The incident happened on Oct. 19, 2021 while Robert Hengeveld was driving a stolen 2004 Toyota Tacoma through a red light at the intersection of County Road 83 and the Long Island Expressway South Service Road.
Hengeveld, who said he was high on crack cocaine at the time, was attempting to evade police officers for 11 minutes after speeding away from a traffic stop. He sped through a red light around 11:42 p.m., crashing into 19-year-old Starlin Diaz Felipe who was driving a 1999 Honda Civic.
Felipe was killed instantly as a result of the impact. Hengeveld also had a passenger with him in the car who was ejected from the vehicle and suffered serious physical injury, namely a brain bleed and a broken jaw.
Both the license plate Hengeveld was using and the car the license plate was on had been reported stolen.
Hengeveld pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide as well as charges for fleeing from the police officer, possession of stolen property, reckless driving and driving while impaired by drugs.
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