Insets, clockwise from top left: Ethan Falkowitz, Drew Hassenbein and Amandeep Singh. Background: The crash scene (WABC).
A man from New York has admitted to causing a tragic car accident where he collided with another vehicle while driving in the wrong direction. The accident resulted in the deaths of two teenage tennis players who were coming back from a team dinner celebration.
The man, identified as Amandeep Singh, aged 36, pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated vehicular homicide and driving while intoxicated (DWI) in connection to the crash. The victims of the crash were Drew Hassenbein and Ethan Falkowitz, both 14 years old.
The incident took place in Jericho, Long Island, on May 3, 2023. Singh, after consuming alcohol and cocaine at bars, got behind the wheel of his Dodge Ram pickup truck and drove in the opposite direction on North Broadway at a high rate of speed. He then collided with a 2019 four-door Alfa Romeo carrying Drew, Ethan, and two other boys. Tragically, Drew and Ethan lost their lives in the crash, while the other two boys sustained injuries but survived.
A second vehicle was hit, injuring two others who were treated at the scene and released.
Singh was found hiding near a dumpster in a parking lot of a shopping nearby and was arrested. Police bodycam video captured the moments before he was put into an ambulance, taken to a hospital for a head wound and then arrested.
At one point in the video, he told officers, “So what if I [expletive] drink and drive … maybe I did.”
His blood alcohol level was reportedly 0.18 — more than twice the legal limit — at the time of the crash.
The boys were on their way home from a restaurant after a tennis event, Stephen Fitzpatrick of the Nassau County Police Department said.
Drew was ranked 38th in the United States for players under 14. The two were “amazing guys” and “best friends” who had played the sport since they were 5 years old, Jay Harris, their coach, told local NBC affiliate WNBC.
A GoFundMe for Drew said he and his teammates had been coming back from a tennis celebration for Roslyn High School.
The team was celebrating a victory where Drew won his match, the fundraiser said, noting that Drew was a nationally-ranked tennis player for 12-year-olds.
“Even though Drew was a nationally-ranked boys player, nothing meant more to him than being a part of the Roslyn tennis community and being with his friends,” the site said. “Our family is devastated by his loss and is so appreciative of the incredible outpouring of support and people’s desire to help.”
Drew’s family established the Drew Hassenbein Foundation, which exposes tennis to underprivileged children through lessons and scholarships and helps sponsor elite juniors.
Ethan’s family has likewise set up The Ethan Falkowitz Foundation.
