A Far Rockaway man has been sentenced to up to 15 years in prison for vehicular homicide after a fatal hit-and-run collision in Jamaica in 2019, according to Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz.
Charles Fleming, 55, of Beach 17th Street, pleaded guilty in May to aggravated homicide before Queens Supreme Court Justice Gene Lopez, who sentenced him Tuesday to serve an indeterminate five to 15 years in prison.
According to the charges, just before midnight on Oct. 12, 2019, police responded to the scene of a crash near the intersection of Rockaway Boulevard and Guy R. Brewer Boulevard. Fleming had been traveling southbound on Rockaway Boulevard in a 2013 blue Infiniti G37.
Also moving in the same direction was a red electric scooter being driven by Far Rockaway resident Eternity Stevens, 19, with a female passenger aboard. Fleming was traveling at a high rate of speed when he struck the rear of a Kuba Tail G electric scooter, throwing both girls in the air before they landed on the pavement, according to the district attorney.
Katz said Fleming drove away from the area without offering aid or calling for an ambulance. When first responders arrived at the scene, the victims were transported to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center.
Stevens suffered severe head trauma and died as a result of the collision. The now-25-year-old passenger was treated for a fractured pelvis and has since fully recovered.
According to the charges, Fleming was stopped by officers from the Nassau County Police Department around midnight on the Nassau Expressway.
A portable breathalyzer test was administered to Fleming which showed his blood alcohol content to be approximately 0.186 percent, which is more than twice the legal limit of .08 in New York City, according to the charges.
“Every driver who gets behind the wheel of a car bears a responsibility to maintain safe driving conditions and to follow the rules of the road,” Katz said. “This defendant selfishly consumed alcohol, drove erratically, struck two individuals and fled the scene. It is my hope that today’s sentencing brings a measure of justice and provides the victim’s family and friends a sense of closure.”
