Amandeep Singh, the Roslyn resident charged with the deaths of high school tennis stars Drew Hassenbein and Ethan Falkowitz in an alleged drunk driving crash, is seen in police bodycam footage slurring his speech, confused about where he is moments after the incident and admitting to drinking and driving. Now his attorneys are seeking to prevent it from being presented in his upcoming trial.
Defense attorneys Edward Sapone and James Kousouros argued that Singh was in custody when he made the statements yet had not been read his rights against self-incrimination, according to Newsday.
But Newsday reported police bodycam footage shows Singh speaking with police after he had been informed of his rights.
Singh, 35, was allegedly driving an Alpha Romeo on the wrong side of the road at 95 mph on May 3, 2023, with a blood alcohol count of 0.15 four hours after his arrest and cocaine in his system.
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said at a news conference following his arraignment June 26, 2023, that the speed limit posted in the area of the collision was 40 mph.
His truck struck the Alpha Romeo occupied by four teenagers, all Roslyn High School boys varsity tennis players, resulting in the death of young tennis stars Hassenbein, 14, and Falkowitz, 14. The two other teens in the car survived after being treated for internal injuries.
Det. Capt. Steven Fitzpatrick, commanding officer of the Nassau County Police Department’s Homicide Squad, previously told reporters that the scene of the crash was “probably one of the most catastrophic” he had seen “in a long time.”
The teens’ deaths reverberated throughout their communities, particularly within Roslyn and the broader tennis community.
Singh was charged with multiple offenses, including aggravated vehicular homicide, assault, driving while intoxicated, driving while impaired by the combined influence of alcohol and a drug, reckless driving and a felony count of leaving the scene of an incident without reporting, authorities said.
Newsday published a 49-minute bodycam footage, obtained through court documents, of the moment Nassau County police officers found Singh after the crash. In the footage, the officer tells Singh he is being recorded by his bodycam.
The camera footage begins at about 10:40 p.m. on the night of the crash on May 3, 2023.
At the beginning of the video, Singh is found standing in the rear of a commercial building by Broadway Mall in Hicksville. A police officer asks Singh what he is doing. Singh says he is looking for his friends.
The officer asks Singh why he is hiding, which Singh denies. He tells the officer he is just looking for his friends and is lost, which he repeats multiple times throughout the footage. Singh claims that his friends dropped him off at the location where police found him 20 minutes before.
Singh does admit to drinking in the bodycam footage, telling officers he was at a party in New Jersey earlier in the night. He wavers in describing the party as a wedding and a bachelor party.
He said he drank “a couple” and “a few” drinks of beer and liquor about three hours before police found him.
“I was just hanging out,” Singh said. “I didn’t drive. I was just hanging out with some girls or whatever it is, but I’m here.”
Singh, who is slurring his words, denies that he had been driving when asked by the officers multiple times. He also denies to police that he had been in an accident.
Singh doesn’t answer officers when asked multiple times what car he drives. He also denies that he drives a red Ram truck when questioned by police. It isn’t until about 40 minutes into the police footage that Singh admits he drives the red Ram truck.
He says minutes before being arrested in the video that he “said the right thing” by telling officers he was not driving.
When the officers begin to pat down Singh, they notice blood on him. He told officers his injuries were from being hit in the back of the head by someone. Singh later tells paramedics he doesn’t know how he was injured.
A couple of minutes into police questioning, Singh tells officers he lives in New York and not “here” where they found him. He also tells officers he lives in Queens and then later says in Roslyn. Singh lived in Roslyn at the time.
Later he tells officers “I never come down to Jersey” to which an officer responds by telling him he is not in Jersey but in New York.
An officer then asks Singh if he knows where he is, to which Singh responds with “New York.” When asked where in New York, Singh continues to repeat “New York.”
“You’re on Long Island, though, right now,” an officer tells Singh.
“This is not Long Island,” Singh replied.
When asked what he does for work, Singh tells police he is a contractor and offers to show them his taxes to prove he is a millionaire.
Almost 20 minutes into police questioning, Singh asks officers if someone was injured. Police do not answer his question.
About a minute later he tells police he feels like he is under arrest. A police officer tells him he is not under arrest but is being detained until they “figure everything out.”
Singh then asks officers if something happened for him to be detained. Police responded by saying that he was hiding when they found him and then attempted to walk away from them.
About 25 minutes into the video, police have Singh perform a breath alcohol test. The test is performed three times after Singh failed to blow hard enough the first two times.
Singh asks after the breath test if he can leave, which the police deny. He then asks if he will be arrested and a police officer tells him: “We’re getting there.”
After being told he can’t leave, Singh engages in small talk with some of the officers where he tells them about his family and his desire to have a daughter in the future.
About 34 minutes into the video, Singh asks again if he can go home and an officer tells him “No, not right now.” Less than a minute later he again asks officers if he is in New York.
Minutes before being arrested, Singh says he was not aware they were police officers. At the beginning of the video, the officers identified themselves as the police and did so multiple times during the video.
After 44 minutes, police put Singh into handcuffs. He continues to tell them that he did not do anything.
The recording ends when Singh is placed in the back of an ambulance where they tell him they are taking him to a hospital.
Newsday reported that body camera footage presented in court last week showed Singh the following morning admitting to police that he had been drinking and driving. This footage was not published by Newsday.
Newsday also reported that footage shows Singh crying after police informed him he was being charged with the deaths of the two teens.
