Posted on: August 23, 2024 04:00 PM

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Driver arraigned for the vehicle crash that killed a victim from Long Island

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced that Ravindra Dharamjit was indicted on manslaughter, reckless driving and other charges for killing a 67-year-old pedestrian on Christmas Day 2019. The defendant was allegedly speeding at nearly three times the posted speed limit when he killed the father of four, who was leaving a Christmas dinner at his son’s house.

District Attorney Katz said: “The defendant is accused of driving 74 miles an hour – nearly three times the legal speed limit – when he struck and killed Ainsley Dalrymple. Rather than stop the vehicle and render aid, the defendant allegedly continued speeding through a busy intersection and later fled the country on a one-way ticket to Guyana. My office and our police partners never give up on cases and today we arraigned this defendant, nearly five years after the fatal crash.”

Dharamjit, 26, of 124th Street in South Ozone Park, was arraigned on a seven-count indictment on charges of manslaughter in the second degree, criminally negligent homicide, reckless driving, leaving the scene of an incident without reporting, failing to obey passing safety markers, driving in excess of the maximum speed limit and operating a vehicle at unreasonable speed.

He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted. Acting Supreme Court Justice Danielle Hartman remanded the defendant and ordered him to return to court on August 27.

According to the charges:

• On December 25, 2019, at approximately 9:28 p.m., Ainsley Dalrymple, a father of four from Hempstead, was attempting to cross Rockaway Boulevard between 113th Street and 114th The defendant, allegedly operating Toyota Tundra pickup truck, was traveling at approximately 74 miles per hour, in a 25 mile an hour zone, when he struck Dalrymple.
• The 67-year-old man was transported to a local hospital with severe head trauma, body and lower torso trauma, and succumbed to his injuries.
• After the collision, the defendant allegedly drove through a steady red light at Rockaway Boulevard and Linden Boulevard, traveled on the wrong side of the road and fled the scene.
• The defendant allegedly left the United States on January 9, 2020, on a one-way ticket from John F. Kennedy International Airport to Guyana.
• District Attorney Katz’s Extraditions Unit worked closely with the U.S. Marshals to locate Dharamjit in Guyana and return him to New York so that he could be held to answer the charges filed against him.

(From Queens DA's Office)