UPDATED April 26, 4 p.m.
An off-duty cop is now facing manslaughter charges after drunkenly crashing his car into another vehicle on the Van Wyck Expressway, killing the other driver, prosecutors announced on Wednesday.
Neville Smith, 32, was initially arrested and charged vehicular assault and driving while intoxicated, among other charges. The charges were upgraded to manslaughter when the driver of the other vehicle, Vanessa Raghubar of Elmont, NY, died of her injuries.
At around 4 a.m. on Sunday, April 23, Smith was driving southbound on the Van Wyck Expressway near the Rockaway Boulevard exit when he rear-ended a Honda, causing the car to run off the road hitting a tree and a light pole.
Upon their arrival, police found the 22-year-old female driver, 20-year-old male front seat passenger and a 21-year-old female rear seat passenger, all who sustained traumatic injuries about the body. They were all transported to Jamaica Hospital, where the driver, Vanessa Raghubar, was pronounced dead on Monday, April 24.
Smith was originally arrested and charged with a DWI, vehicular assault, assault and refusal to take a breath test and was suspended for 30 days without pay, police sources said. Smith was arraigned via video conference on vehicular manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges while he was in his hospital bed on Wednesday, April 26.
Smith served as a police officer for The Bronx’s 48th Precinct. He is currently being held on a $300,000 bond.
“Drinking and then driving is a deadly combination. The defendant — a police officer bound to enforce the law — is now accused of breaking the law and with deadly consequences,” said District Attorney Richard Brown.
