Bilal Hassan, 23, traveled at speeds over 130 mph on the Meadowbrook Parkway while allegedly intoxicated
Acting Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced the indictment of a Brooklyn man on charges that he killed his 24-year-old passenger, Malih Takkouche, by crashing into a tree near an exit ramp on the Meadowbrook Parkway at a speed over 130 miles per hour while intoxicated, with a revoked license and without a required interlock device.
Bilal Hassan, 23, was arraigned today before Acting Nassau Supreme Court Justice Meryl Berkowitz on the following charges:
• Two counts of Aggravated Vehicular Homicide (a B felony)
• Two counts of Vehicular Manslaughter in the 1st Degree (a C felony)
• Manslaughter in the 2nd Degree (a C felony)
• Reckless Endangerment in the 1st Degree (a D felony)
• Two counts of Operating a Motor Vehicle Under the Influence of Alcohol (an E felony)
• Aggravated Unlicensed Operation of a Motor Vehicle in the 1st Degree (an unclassified misdemeanor)
• Aggravated Unlicensed Operation of a Motor Vehicle in the 2nd Degree (an unclassified misdemeanor)
• Reckless Driving (an unclassified misdemeanor)
• Operating a Motor Vehicle Without an Ignition Interlock Device (an A misdemeanor)
Judge Berkowitz continued to hold the defendant without bail. If convicted of the top charge, Hassan faces up to 8-1/3 to 25 years in prison. He is due back in court on April 16.
“This driver was ordered to use an ignition interlock device just six weeks before this horrible crash,” Acting DA Singas said. “In spite of this, the defendant is charged with failing to use an interlock, which would have prevented this crash, getting drunk and then driving in an outrageously reckless manner that endangered everyone in his path and violently stole the life of Malih Takkouche on Thanksgiving morning.”
Acting DA Singas said that on Thanksgiving morning, Nov. 27, 2014 at approximately 2:30 a.m., Hassan was traveling southbound in his 2014 Infiniti Q50 when he lost control on the Meadowbrook Parkway and violently crashed into a tree near the exit for the westbound Southern State Parkway. A subsequent download of the Infiniti’s black box revealed that the vehicle had been traveling at least 133 miles per hour.
Police observed Hassan to be intoxicated at the scene. The E felony Operating a Motor Vehicle Under the Influence of Alcohol charge requires a BAC of over .08% and a prior DWI conviction.
Despite being ordered to install an ignition interlock on any vehicle he owned or operated, the Infiniti driven by Hassan that night did not have an ignition interlock installed.
Members of the New York State Police Department arrested Hassan.
Assistant District Attorneys Stefanie Palma and Steven Henesy of Acting DA Singas’ Vehicular Crimes Bureau are prosecuting the case. Hassan is represented by Steven Gaitman, Esq.
The charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless found guilty.