Lawyer for Amandeep Singh, alleged wrong-way driver that killed 2 Roslyn teens, to seek bail in appeals court Friday

The alleged wrong-way driver charged with killing two Roslyn teens and injuring two others in what authorities described as a "horrific crash" on May 3 in Jericho will argue his case for getting bail before an appeals court in Brooklyn on Friday.

James Kousouros, the defense attorney for Amandeep Singh, who will not personally appear in court Friday, said his client should be freed from jail so he can assist in his defense. The lawyer is expected to make his case when he appears before the Appellate Divison’s Second Judicial Department.

“We are going to argue that for bail, that he is not a flight risk, and that he should be able to defend himself while on liberty on substantial bail,” Kousouros said. 

Singh was charged with aggravated vehicular homicide, first-degree vehicular manslaughter, two counts each of second-degree manslaughter and second-degree assault, leaving the scene of an auto accident with a fatality and driving while intoxicated.

Nassau District Judge Joseph Nocella ordered the 34-year-old Singh, of Roslyn, held without bail during his May 4 arraignment. Nocella said Singh’s prior criminal history, which includes a youthful offender conviction for driving while intoxicated, makes him a flight risk, along with the strength of the case against him. 

Singh had a blood alcohol content of 0.18, more than twice the legal limit of 0.08, according to charging documents. 

Brendan Brosh, a spokesman for Nassau District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly, declined to comment on the upcoming hearing in Brooklyn.

Authorities said Singh was driving a Dodge Ram pickup south in the northbound lanes of North Broadway in Jericho on May 3 when the truck struck an Alfa Romeo. Drew Hassenbein and Ethan Falkowitz, both 14 years old and elite tennis players, were killed in the crash. 

An older teammate was driving them home in the 2019 Alfa Romeo after a tennis match victory. The driver and another passenger were hospitalized with injuries sustained in the crash. 

The boys’ deaths sparked a tidal wave of emotion in Roslyn, and hundreds of community members showed up at Nassau County Court in Mineola when Singh appeared in District Judge Anthony Paradiso’s first-floor courtroom for a three minute hearing. 

"We're gonna shut this courthouse down until justice is served," Rabbi Michael White of Temple Sinai of Roslyn, who presided over Falkowitz’s funeral, said that day. "Every time [Singh] appears, we're gonna be here."

At a news conference after the crash, Det. Capt. Stephen Fitzpatrick, commanding officer of the Nassau County Police Department's Homicide Squad, Fitzpatrick, who was among the officers to respond to the crash, described the scene as among the worst he's ever encountered.

"It was probably one of the most catastrophic scenes I have seen in a long time," Fitzpatrick said, adding that the debris field was so extensive that it was "almost like the car exploded."

Singh, he said, was "swerving in and out of lanes and the kids had nowhere to go. They eventually tried to maneuver to the left, exposing the right side of the car and the truck collided catastrophically with the vehicle. The pickup truck went airborne, spinning, and landed 300 feet away."

As witnesses tried to render aid to the teens, Singh fled the scene on foot; police located him in the Broadway Mall parking lot in Hicksville and arrested him, Fitzpatrick said.

"He thought he was in New Jersey," Fitzpatrick said, adding that police have surveillance video of the crash. "He asked the officers, 'what are you doing here? It's New Jersey.'"

The teens, who were returning home after eating dinner at the mall following the tennis match, were wearing their seat belts and the driver had a valid license, police said.