Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy D. Sini has announced the indictment of a Blue Point man for allegedly killing a man in a motor vehicle crash and fleeing police in a stolen vehicle.

 

“The defendant showed no regard for the law or for the safety of others when he tore down the streets in an attempt to evade police,” District Attorney Sini said. “Because of his reckless actions, a young man’s life was cut short and many others were put in danger.”

 

Robert Hengeveld, 50, is charged with Aggravated Vehicular Homicide, a class B felony; Manslaughter in the Second Degree, a class C felony; Aggravated Vehicular Assault, a class C felony; Vehicular Manslaughter in the Second Degree, a class D felony; Assault in the Second Degree, a class D felony; Unlawful Fleeing a Police Officer in a Motor Vehicle in the First Degree, a class D felony; Criminal Possession Of Stolen Property in the Fourth Degree, a class E felony; Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Fifth Degree, a class A misdemeanor; Reckless Endangerment in the Second Degree, a class A misdemeanor; Driving While Ability Impaired by Drugs, an unclassified misdemeanor; and Reckless Driving, an unclassified misdemeanor.

 

At approximately 11:29 p.m. on Oct. 19, Hengeveld was allegedly driving a stolen 2004 Toyota Tacoma on Long Island Avenue in Holtsville when a Suffolk County Police Sixth Precinct Officer attempted to initiate a traffic stop. Hengeveld allegedly fled police at a high rate of speed and, while traveling southbound on North Ocean Avenue, struck a Honda Civic traveling eastbound on Express Drive South.

 

The driver of the Honda, Starlin Manuel Diaz Felipe, 19, of Medford, was pronounced dead at the scene by a physician assistant from the Office of the Suffolk County Medical Examiner. A female passenger in the Toyota was ejected from the vehicle and was transported to Stony Brook University Hospital with serious injuries. Hengeveld was also transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

 

A blood test was performed, which revealed the presence of cocaine in Hengeveld’s blood.

 

Hengeveld was arraigned on the indictment today before Acting Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Chris Ann Kelley and was remanded without bail. He is due back in court on Nov. 30 and is being represented by the Legal Aid Society.

 

If convicted of the top count, Hengeveld faces a maximum sentence of eight and one-third to 25 years in prison.

 

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Daniel Cronin, of the Vehicular Crime Bureau.

 

A criminal charge is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.