Amandeep Singh, of Roslyn, admits drinking, driving in crash that killed teens Ethan Falkowitz and Drew Hassenbein, in video screened for judge
![Amandeep Singh watches as police body cam video is played...](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.newsday.com%2Fimage-service%2Fversion%2Fc%3AZTlkNTE0OGQtMGIyNS00%3AOGQtMGIyNS00NmExYTVj%2F_photos.jpg%3Ff%3DLandscape%2B16%253A9%26w%3D770%26q%3D1&w=1920&q=80)
Amandeep Singh watches as police body cam video is played during a hearing at the Nassau County Courthouse on Monday, July 15, 2024 in Mineola. Credit: Newsday/Howard Schnapp
Amandeep Singh, the Roslyn man accused of killing 14-year-old star tennis players Ethan Falkowitz and Drew Hassenbein in a wrong-way crash in May last year, admitted to police that he was drinking and driving shortly after being arrested in the early morning following the collision, body camera footage played in court on Tuesday shows.
A Nassau County grand jury indicted Singh, 35, last year of charges including aggravated vehicular homicide, multiple counts of vehicular manslaughter and driving while intoxicated.
Now, defense attorneys Edward Sapone and James Kousouros are seeking to have the body camera evidence suppressed from the upcoming trial because, they say, their client was in custody at the time the statements were made and should have been notified of his right against self-incrimination.
Footage played in court during an evidentiary hearing on Tuesday, however, shows Singh continuing to speak to Nassau County police officers after he was informed of his rights.
WHAT TO KNOW
- Amandeep Singh, of Roslyn, admitted to police he was drinking and driving before the head-on crash that killed teen tennis stars Ethan Falkowitz and Drew Hassenbein, body camera footage played in court on Tuesday shows.
- Defense attorneys are seeking to have the body camera evidence suppressed from the upcoming trial, saying Singh was in custody and should have been notified of his right against self-incrimination.
- Footage played in court during an evidentiary hearing, however, shows Singh continuing to speak to officers after he was informed of his rights.
"So what if I [expletive] drink and drive . . . maybe I did," he says on the video.
In the hours after detectives tell him that he is being charged with the deaths of Ethan and Drew, he appears to become emotionally unraveled.
Singh breaks down in tears, crying out in a high-pitched wail in the back of the Nassau police patrol car taking him to the holding cell ahead of his first court appearance.
"Yeah, my life is done, man," he says in the video. "Bro, all the hard work I did. Whatever I was doing my whole life, Right? I’m 35 years old, man. I worked very hard in my life. I worked very hard in my life for my kids, for my family. It’s [expletive] done in one second?"
In court on Tuesday, his cries on the police recording were matched by the sobs coming from family members of the teens on the left side of the courtroom and the crying from Singh’s extended family on the right side
In the footage, Singh appears disoriented, making contradictory statements and slurring his words.
Additional body camera footage played in court shows Singh laying on a hospital bed in Nassau University Medical Center as detectives tell him that he is under arrest in the death of the teens and another officer reads him his Miranda rights informing him of his right to remain silent.
"This cannot happen to me," he responds initially, according to the video. "This cannot happen to me. I have two sons."
He appears to realize the punishment that he’s facing.
"No way, man," he says on the video. "My life is done. My life is over."
In the footage, Singh also complains about the handcuffs and repeatedly asks officers guarding him why he is under arrest, even after detectives tell him.
"But I’m supposed to be in Miami tomorrow," he says at one point, explaining that he had tickets to see Formula 1 racing in Florida.
Throughout the video, Singh appears to be bargaining with police for a way out of his predicament.
"You think they might be drinking too?" he asks the officer. A law enforcement source said the driver of the car the teens were riding in, a teenager himself, tested negative for alcohol at the crash scene.
He tells the officers that his "car went out of control."
"I hit a bump . . . I lost traction," he said on the recording.
In the video, he also worries about his family, how his wife will respond and his children.
"This cannot happen to me, officer," he tells police. "My life is over. My life is done. I got two sons. I got a 4-year-old and 2-year-old."
Singh’s lawyer said the culpability of his client not at issue for the hearing.
"The question is not whether or not he made incriminating statements," Sapone said after testimony concluded on Tuesday. "The question is, whether he was in custody while being questioned by law enforcement. And those are the types of facts that we're not going to comment on. But we feel guardedly optimistic that justice will prevail."
The deaths of the two boys, varsity high school tennis players who were celebrating a victory on the night of the crash, reverberated throughout Roslyn community, where the teens lived.
Family and supporters continue to show up regularly for court appearances.
The hearing continues on Wednesday.
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'I'm going to try to avoid it' A trip to the emergency room in a Long Island hospital now averages nearly 4 hours, data shows. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie reports.
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