Manslaughter Conviction For Man Who Fled Fatal 122 MPH LIE Crash

A Muttontown man was convicted on Wednesday of manslaughter in connection to causing a fatal two-car crash while racing up to 122 miles per hour on the Long Island Expressway, fleeing the scene and giving false statements to police in 2017, according to Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas.

Areefeen Hirji, 21, was convicted of second-degree manslaughter, leaving the scene of an incident without reporting, second-degree reckless endangerment, making a punishable false written statement and reckless driving.

“Everything about this crash is a tragedy from the young life lost to the young defendants convicted of their crimes,” Singas said said in a press release. “[Hirji] not only raced and collided with the other car, but he also fled and later tried to bully eyewitnesses into pinning the blame on another person."

On Feb,23, 2017, Hirji was driving a 2017 Honda Accord and racing his co-defendant, 22-year-old Manhasset resident Jonnathan Santos, who was driving a 2015 BMW 528, eastbound on the Long Island Expressway, west of the Route 135 overpass, at 11:48 p.m. Both vehicles crashed while traveling more than 120 miles per hour, causing the BMW to spin out and collide with a guardrail and a pickup truck, the DA says.

The backseat passenger in the BMW, 19-year-old Manhasset resident Gianfranco Peralta, was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene. Two other passengers in the BMW were treated for minor injuries. Santos was arrested at the scene for being impaired by alcohol and drugs at the time of the crash, the DA says.

Hirji fled the scene, the DA says. Two days after the incident, he gave a false statement to authorities saying another passenger in his vehicle was driving the Honda at the time of the crash, the DA says. He later admitted to driving the vehicle and was arrested on Feb. 25, 2017, the DA says.

Santos pleaded guilty on Oct. 9 to second-degree manslaughter and driving while ability impaird by the combined influence of alcohol and drugs. He is expected to be sentenced to three to nine years in prison on Jan. 15.

Hirji's trial lasted a week and a half and the jury deliberated for a day and a half. Hirji faces a maximum sentence of seven-and-a-third to 22 years in prison. He is due back for sentencing on Jan. 17.

Images via NCPD