- Vanessa Raghubar, 22, died from injuries she suffered when her car was rear-ended by an allegedly drunken off-duty NYPD officer Neville Smith, 32
- Smith, who has been on the force for six years, faces charges of vehicular assault, assault, DWI and refusal to take a breath test
- Accident happened early Sunday morning on Van Wyck Expressway in Queens
- Raghubar's sister, Maria, and Maria's boyfriend, Justin Harricharran, were in the car at time of accident
- Maria is in critical condition and Justin is expected to recover fully
- The sisters were out celebrating with their boyfriends for Maria's 21st birthday
A 22-year-old woman has died from injuries and her 21-year-old sister is in critical condition after their car was rear-ended by an allegedly drunken off-duty NYPD officer.
Vanessa Raghubar, 22, was pronounced dead on Monday after police say she was behind the wheel of a Honda that was rear-ended by a Mercedes Benz shortly after 4am.
After being struck, the Honda hit a tree then a light pole before coming to rest in the far right lane on the Van Wyck Expressway near Rockaway Boulevard in Queens.
Her sister, Maria, and Maria's boyfriend, Justin Harricharran, were passengers in the Honda at the time of the accident.
Relatives of the Raghubar sisters told WCBS the girls were out Saturday night celebrating Maria's 21st birthday with their boyfriends.
Tragic: Vanessa Raghubar (left), 22, has died from injuries she suffered when her Honda (right) was rear-ended by an allegedly drunken off-duty NYPD officer early Sunday morning
Vanessa had just dropped her boyfriend off minutes before the crash.
Maria is currently listed in critical condition with broken bones in her arms and pelvic area and severe injuries to her kidneys and intestines, while 20-year-old Harricharran was injured and is expected to fully recover, WCBS reported.
The driver of the Mercedes Benz has been identified as off-duty NYPD officer Neville Smith.
The 32-year-old faces charges of vehicular assault, assault, DWI and refusal to take a breath test.
Smith is currently assigned to the 48th Precinct detective squad in the Bronx and has been suspended for 30 days without pay.
He had been a police officer for nearly six years.
Ravi Rattan, the priest for the victims' family, told WCBS: 'It is very sad that a person of authority, a person who's sworn to protect the people, was intoxicated and got himself involved in a situation like that.
'We're a very forgiving culture. The Hindu culture is a very forgiving culture.
'However, we are not very tolerant of people being intoxicated and operating vehicles.'
#1: rlk To: cranky (#0)
Was she killed in the interest of maintaining officer safety?
rlk posted on 2017-04-24 19:46:39 Reply Private Reply
#2: Gatlin To: cranky (#0)
Shouldn’t you give be equal coverage for same type crimes committed since both individuals are in professions as public servants and both have charges of public trust?
It is conspicuously evident that you will not do this and that you concentrate solely on posting articles reflecting poorly only on police misconduct.
I believe police misconduct should be covered, but to ignore the misconduct of other public servant professions is grossly hypocritical.
Simple question …
Why do you post misconduct by a particular public servant profession and not the other?
Gatlin posted on 2017-04-24 20:52:41 Reply Private Reply
#3: Hondo68 To: Gatlin, cranky (#2)
Maybe it's an humanitarian effort, to assist you in pulling your head out of your a$$?
Hondo68 posted on 2017-04-24 21:44:34 Reply Private Reply
#4: Stoner To: Gatlin (#2)
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight
Stoner posted on 2017-04-24 21:56:31 Reply Private Reply
#5: Gatlin To: cranky (#0)
You picked the wrong public servant profession to go after for abuse of trust, law and ethics violations. Leave the cops alone.
There are far more teachers in this country than there are cops….and many more teachers commit far more crimes than do cops.
So, don’t narrow your focus to only on cops because of some personal vendetta you may have for your centralized targeting just to fulfill your agenda. Hell, go after the teachers. They provide much more fertile picking for you to vilify.
Looka here, what I found for you after only a few minutes Google searching …
Gatlin posted on 2017-04-24 22:51:43 Reply Private Reply
#6: Gatlin To: Cranky (#5)
See what you are missing, Sport….by severely restricting the limit of your scope to only police officers for some type of retribution.
Give bad cops an break….go after bad teachers.
Gatlin posted on 2017-04-24 23:18:35 Reply Private Reply
#7: Gatlin To: Cranky, Deckard (#6)
Maybe it’s time to change your target and after the perverted school teachers who are taking advantage of their students to engage in sexual misconduct….besides other gross violations of the law.
I have already posted some stories to you for lead-in but the stories keep popping outta the woodwork….look what golden opportunities you both are missing …
I'm glad this is over': Tenn. teacher accused of abducting girl nabbed in Calif.
Texas teacher charged for having sexual relationship with teen student smiles in mugshot
Central High School English teacher arrested for hitting girlfriend
Teacher arrested on student relationship charge
D.C. Substitute Teacher Arrested After Performing Oral Sex On Student
HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER ARRESTED FOR ALLEGED POSSESSION OF CHILD PORN
Utah teacher arrested for sexual battery of student
Camera found in restroom at Littleton Elementary School in Morris County; teacher arrested
Mineral County High School teacher arrested on drug charges
Hopkinsville Middle School teacher arrested for DUI, narcotics possession
Valhalla teacher arrested on drug charge
Angelina County Kindergarten Teacher Arrested For Improper Relationship With a Student
Former teacher arrested for abuse
Chesterfield special ed teacher arrested for heroin at elementary school
OHS Teacher Arrested for Alleged Sexual Relationship with Student
Choctaw teacher arrested, accused of relationship with student
Benicia High teacher arrested on sex allegations involving a 17-year-old student
Gatlin posted on 2017-04-25 00:11:01 Reply Private Reply
#8: Tooconservative To: Gatlin (#5)
I wouldn't bet on that.
Tooconservative posted on 2017-04-25 01:08:53 Reply Private Reply
#9: Stoner To: hondo68 (#3)
LOL !!!
Stoner posted on 2017-04-25 09:46:18 Reply Private Reply
#10: Deckard To: Gatlin (#7)
How many of them are scooped up by other school systems when they have a criminal record like many criminal cops are re-hired by other departments?
Deckard posted on 2017-04-25 09:52:33 Reply Private Reply
#11: Stoner To: Deckard (#10)
Stoner posted on 2017-04-25 13:21:54 Reply Private Reply