A Queens grand jury indicted a South Ozone Park man for the death of a Bronx woman, who was a flag person directing traffic around a construction zone on the Nassau Expressway, who was struck and killed in a hit-and-run collision on the morning of Friday, Sept. 19, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced Monday.
Daveanand Budhai, 25, of 115th Street, was charged in a criminal complaint on Sept. 20 with manslaughter in the second degree, assault in the second degree, leaving the scene without reporting death, and other related crimes. If convicted of those charges, Budhai faces up to 22 years in prison.
According to the criminal complaint, just before 7:30 a.m. on Sept. 19, the defendant was behind the wheel on a white 2018 Infiniti Q50S going eastbound at a high rate of speed on the Nassau Expressway approaching Exit 1N, which feeds into the Van Wyck Expressway. The ramp, however, was an active construction site, and the left lane was closed and marked with multiple traffic drums and signage. The posted speed for the ramp was 25 mph.
According to prosecutors, Budhai allegedly slammed into traffic drums and then struck Isabel Alvarez, 44, of Rogers Place in the Longwood section of the Bronx. Alvarez was a construction worker who served as the flag person, holding a paddle that read “STOP/SLOW.” She was also wearing her required safety equipment, including a hard hat and a fluorescent reflective visibility vest. At impact, Alvarez’s body was thrown roughly 186 feet through the air. Her body landed on the left shoulder of the roadway. EMS responded to the location and pronounced her dead at the scene.
After hitting Alvarez, Budhai allegedly drove away from the area. He exited the expressway and stopped at 134th Street and South Conduit Avenue — about a mile from the scene of the fatal collision. Budhai called 911 to request an ambulance for injuries he sustained to his hands in the crash.
When police from the 113th Precinct arrived to aid the defendant, the vehicle Budhai drove was observed to have significant front-end damage, including a shattered windshield. There was both blood and glass inside the vehicle, and fluorescent markings were visible on the hood of the car.
“As alleged, Isabel Alvarez did not stand a chance when the defendant sped into the highway construction zone and plowed his Infiniti sedan into the flag woman’s body,” Katz said. “After the victim was thrown into the air and killed, Daveanand Budhai kept driving. When the defendant finally called 911 from more than a mile away from the crash, it was for injuries he sustained.”
He was additionally charged with aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and speed restrictions; basic and maximum limits. Budhai will be arraigned on the indictment before Queens Supreme Court Michael Hartofilis on Thursday, Oct. 30.
“Budhai has now been indicted by a grand jury, and we will seek justice for Ms. Alvarez and her loved ones,” Katz said.
