Driver indicted in fatal hit-and-run of partygoer in Amagansett

A Montauk man arrested for an August hit-and-run crash in Amagansett that killed an incoming New York University student was indicted Wednesday on a charge of leaving the scene of an accident without reporting.

The indictment, unsealed in Suffolk County Criminal Court, alleges that Daniel Campbell, 20, failed to stop or notify police after the late-night Aug. 10 crash on Old Stone Highway. Devesh Samtani, 18, of Hong Kong, and about to start his freshman year at NYU, was struck by Campbell's SUV, East Hampton police said at the time. Samtani died from his injuries three days later at Stony Brook University Hospital.

Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro placed Campbell on supervised release during an arraignment Wednesday in Riverhead and ordered the defendant to return to court on Feb. 15.

The teenager's death "underscores why we need tougher policies for leaving the scene of a fatal accident," said Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney in a statement.

"What happened last August to Mr. Samtani is an undeniable tragedy," said Tierney, who was sworn in as district attorney on Sunday. "However, given the facts of the case, this is the most serious charge under the law that Mr. Campbell can face."

Campbell was accompanied in court by his parents and Edward Burke Jr., an attorney from Sag Harbor.

"There will be no legalese today, no legal arguments," Burke told reporters after the hearing. "We are here simply on behalf of my client and his family to offer our condolences to the Samtani family. A horrible, horrible, tragic incident."

Campbell, who faces up to 7 years in prison if convicted, declined to comment.

Samtani's uncle and aunt, Jeff and Jennifer Kurani of Manhattan, also attended Wednesday's arraignment.

Jennifer Kurani described her nephew as exceptionally bright, big-hearted and eager to start at NYU, where he planned to study math and economics.

"He was just the pride and joy of the family," she said. " … He is gone from our lives and our lives will never be the same."

Authorities said Samtani, who had been vacationing in the Hamptons last summer with his family, was part of a large crowd ordered to leave an Amagansett house party by police on the night of the crash. There were no sidewalks in the area near the party, forcing Samtani and others to walk in the road.

Campbell was planning to drop off people at the party when he struck Samtani, authorities said. He was taken into custody several hours later at his home, based on a description of his vehicle and license plate number provided by other partygoers, authorities said.

He was charged at the time with leaving the scene of a crash resulting in serious injury.

According to a criminal complaint filed in August, Campbell acknowledged in an interview with East Hampton police that he hit Samtani and left the scene.

"Yes I hit the guy he was in the road though I knew I should have stayed but I freaked out," Campbell told police, according to the complaint.

Samtani is a son of Kishore and Mala Samtani, the family entrepreneurs behind the Hong Kong-based "As Seen on TV" manufacturers of gadgets, such as nonstick pans, Ginsu-type knives and massagers. The products are made in China and sold by retailers around the world, including in the United States at CVS, Walmart and Target.

Devesh Samtani had written and published a children’s book designed to help kids understand the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a statement issued by the Rubenstein Public Relations firm, hired by the Samtani family in the wake of the young man’s death. He was devoted to charities, including Mothers’ Choice, a Hong Kong organization that serves children without families and indigent pregnant teens.

Samtani was scheduled to begin school at NYU in late August.

"Devesh was very bright, he had a bright future ahead of him, and he touched everyone he met," Jennifer Kurani said. "Everyone who met him just instantly loved him."