The parents of Drew Hassenbein, one of two Roslyn teens killed by a drunk driver in 2023, have filed a suit against three Plainview restaurants for allegedly being negligent in overserving the driver hours before he crashed into the car their son was traveling in.
Mitchell and Jaime Hassenbein alleged that the driver convicted of killing their son,Amandeep Singh, was overserved by three restaurants just hours before the crash occurred.
The lawsuit came within days after the parents of the other teen killed, Ethan Falkowitz, filed a similar suit against the restaurants, Singh’s father and his friend.
The three restaurants named in the Hassenbeins’ suit are Social Play Haus, Iavarone Italian Kitchen and Pizzeria and The Shed, all located in Plainview.
Efforts to solicit comments from the restaurants were unavailing.
The suit alleges that Singh started at the Social Play Haus around 6 p.m. before moving to Iavarone Italian Kitchen + Pizzeria around 8 p.m. and then The Shed around 9 p.m. Singh was allegedly drinking at all three restaurants and had been “grossly overserved to the point of being heavily intoxicated,” according to the suit.
The suit is also brought against Singh’s father, who is the owner of the Dodge truck Singh was driving the night of the crash, and his friend Prabhleen Virk, who allegedly provided him alcohol and/or cocaine at his Hicksville home that same night, according to the suit.
Singh allegedly went to his friend’s home after concluding his time at The Shed, his last stop before getting behind the wheel and crashing into a car carrying the two teens and two other Roslyn High School students, the lawsuit states.
Their suits alleged that the restaurants, Singh’s father and his friend are culpable in the death of their son.
State law prohibits bars and restaurants from overserving patrons, making it illegal and potentially liable if a crime occurs due to their intoxication.
Singh was sentenced to 8 1/3 to 25 years in prison in February after pleading guilty in January for causing the high-speed drug- and alcohol-fueled crash that killed Roslyn’s Ethan Falkowitz and Drew Hassenbein, both 14.
The two boys were returning from a celebratory team dinner after a victorious tennis match with two other teammates from the Roslyn High School tennis team. Singh, who was driving drunk and high, crashed into the car of the four boys in Hicksville.
Singh pleaded guilty to 10 charges, including aggravated vehicular homicide, two counts of second-degree manslaughter, several counts of assault, leaving the scene of an incident without reporting it as a felony, driving while ability impaired by the combined influence of alcohol and a drug and driving while intoxicated. Prosecutors said he was high on cocaine and had a blood alcohol content of 0.15% four hours after the accident, nearly twice the legal limit.
Singh had initially pleaded not guilty, but his lawyers later said they had “no choice but to finally take responsibility” when Singh’s plea changed in January.
