Floral Park man charged in fatal crash outside Westbury Manor, DA says

A young driver who authorities say was speeding and under the influence of drugs during a deadly crash last year by an Old Westbury reception hall is facing charges that include manslaughter, prosecutors announced Thursday.

Arhum Tanveer, 19, of Floral Park, pleaded not guilty during a Nassau County Court arraignment to an indictment that also charged him with assault, vehicular manslaughter, driving under the influence of drugs, reckless endangerment and reckless driving.

The Jericho Turnpike crash at 10:39 p.m. on Dec. 12 ended the life of 30-year-old Maricela Donaire of Glen Head, according to law enforcement officials.

They said Donaire was pulling out of the driveway of Westbury Manor in a 2009 Chevrolet Impala, turning east, when the 2016 BMW 340i xDrive that Tanveer was driving in the same direction hit her car.

“The defendant was allegedly exceeding 100 mph in his vehicle just before impact, and never made an effort to brake before the deadly collision,” Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly said in a statement Thursday.

After the collision, Tanveer’s car continued down Jericho Turnpike, overturned and came to rest on its roof on top of a large landscaping boulder, according to authorities.

They said Donaire died at the scene and first responders took Tanveer to a hospital for treatment.

Prosecutors said Acting State Supreme Court Justice Terence Murphy set Tanveer’s bail at $200,000 bond, $100,000 cash or $1 million partially secured bond at his arraignment after the defendant surrendered to detectives earlier Thursday.

Tanveer’s attorney, Henry Jones, said in an interview later Thursday that his client’s family couldn’t afford the bail and he planned to seek a reduction.

The Jericho lawyer said Tanveer went to jail on what was supposed to have been his first day as a student at Nassau Community College.

Jones also said his client had experienced tragedy, with his father dying of COVID-19 two years ago, and had no prior criminal convictions.

“He’s never been in any trouble in his life,” the defense attorney added of Tanveer.

A GoFundMe page launched in the crash's aftermath described Donaire as a kind, vibrant woman who had no family in the United States and had been "looking for a better life for her and her niece."

The page's organizer, who couldn't be immediately reached Thursday, said in a post on the page in late December that enough money had been raised to send Donaire's remains back to her family in Honduras.