Emergency responders rushed to help Raj Chohan after she was hit by an allegedly drunk driver who fled from the scene of the accident in Richmond Hill, but she succumbed to her injuries not long after at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, the Queens DA and police said. Robert Stridiron/The Forum Newsgroup
A 59-year-old grandmother on her way to a religious service in Richmond Hill last Friday was hit and killed by an allegedly drunk driver who fled the scene of the accident that left her family and friends devastated, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Raj Chohan, who lived in South Ozone Park, was walking towards a Sikh temple for a Friday evening service when Vishwanand Subryan, 23, of Schenectady, N.Y., allegedly mowed into the older woman with his gray 2013 Toyota Camry around 7 p.m., police said.
Emergency workers rushed to her side and brought her to Jamaica Hospital Medical Center, where Chohan – an immigrant from India who leaves behind a husband, son and two grandchildren – died later that night, police said.
Subryan has been charged with vehicular manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, driving while under the influence of alcohol, and leaving the scene of an accident without reporting it, the DA said.
“Drinking and driving is a deadly combination – one that has the potential of turning a vehicle into a lethal weapon,” Brown said in a prepared statement. “In this case, the defendant is accused of getting behind the wheel while under the influence of alcohol, being unable to maintain proper control of his vehicle, and striking a pedestrian before speeding away without checking to see if she needed medical assistance.”
Arraigned on Sept. 15, Subryan was ordered held on $200,000 bail and is expected to return to Queens Supreme Court in Kew Gardens on Oct. 2.
According to the criminal charges, two police officers from the 102nd Precinct were stationed on 117th Street at approximately 7 p.m. on Friday night, when they heard a loud bang behind them and one of the officers saw fluorescent garments fly in the air. When the officers turned around, they allegedly saw Subryan speed past them. He then allegedly ran a stop sign and red light when police began to pursue him, the DA said.
When cops stopped the car, police allegedly observed Subryan to have bloodshot watery eyes and slurred speech and smelled of alcohol, according to Brown. Additionally, he was allegedly swaying and unsteady on his feet when he got out of his car – which police wrote had a dented hood, a cracked bumper and front headlight, and scuff marks on the hood, the NYPD said.
The driver was taken to the 112th Precinct, where police documented that he allegedly had a blood alcohol content of .09 percent – above New York’s legal limit of .08 percent.
A civilian witness at the scene also told police that they saw a car speed by and then saw Chohan, who was wearing bright yellow clothing and went into cardiac arrest, laying in the street, the DA said.
Video surveillance from the area showed the vehicle striking Chohan, causing her to become airborne, according to Brown.
The tragic event was one of three accidents involving pedestrians in the city last weekend. A female pedestrian was struck and killed by a motorist when she was crossing Queens Plaza North near 27th Street a little before 10 p.m. on Friday, according to police. The unidentified woman was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai Hospital.
Maria Dulce-Valencia, 27, was also killed in a hit-and-run accident, police said. She was hit around 5 a.m. Sunday morning at Bruckner Boulevard and Evergreen Avenue in the Bronx’s Soundview neighborhood.
By Anna Gustafson
