Long Island Man Charged With Manslaughter For 'Reckless And Brazen Behavior' In Deadly Hit-And-Run: DA

LONG ISLAND, NY — A Long Island man accused in fatal hit-and-run faces manslaughter, and other charges in a 12-count indictment unveiled this week, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

Jason Jean-Joseph, 24, of West Babylon, sped away in attempt to evade a police stop that ultimately resulted in a crash that killed 29-year-old Wyandanch resident Hillel Fuld as he was walking along Wyandanch Avenue in the hamlet, prosecutors said.

On Aug. 29, he was arrested following an investigation conducted by the Suffolk police's Major Case Unit.

The charges he faces include one count each of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, second-degree manslaughter, and assault. He was also charged with three counts of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and one count each of leaving the scene of an incident without reporting, first-degree unlawful fleeing a police officer, and tampering with physical evidence.

He was additionally charged with misdemeanors, including one count of second-degree reckless endangerment, and third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, and reckless driving.

Jean-Joseph was ordered held on $500,000, $2,500,000 bond or $5,000,000 partially secured bond, and his driving privileges are suspended during the pendency of the case.

He faces 15 years in prison if convicted on the top count.

His attorney, Keith O’Halloran of Westhampton Beach, told Patch that he was just assigned the case and is "awaiting discovery" so that he can make his "own determination of what the alleged evidence shows."

The victim’s life was tragically cut short because of the defendant’s alleged reckless and brazen

behavior,” Tierney said. “It should have never happened. Pedestrians in Suffolk County deserve to feel safe when walking our streets.”

On June 13, at around 7:30 p.m., a police officer tried to initiate a traffic stop of Jean-Joseph’s 2018 BMW 5 Series sedan, and Jean-Joseph, whose driver’s license was suspended, saw the marked unit’s lights activate and accelerated away from the police vehicle, prosecutors said.

As Jean-Joseph turned onto Wyandanch Avenue, he allegedly accelerated in an eastbound direction where he struck Fuld with his vehicle, and Fuld later died at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip, according to prosecutors.

After the crash, Jean-Joseph fled from the scene without pulling over to check on Fuld’s well-being and drove to a location in Babylon where he left the vehicle off the shoulder of the roadway, prosecutors said.

Jean-Joseph also is believed to have discarded a loaded 9-millimeter pistol containing a high-capacity magazine in the wooded area south of John Street, according to prosecutors.

Jean-Joseph is due back in court on Sept. 24.