Teen of Guyanese parentage faces 25 years in prison

Nov 19, 2012 News

Deadly Long Island crash…

By Abena Rockcliffe

Joseph Beer, 17, who crashed his 2012 Subaru Impreza car on a Long Island, United States of America highway last month, killing four of his Guyanese friends, is facing 25 years imprisonment, after he tested positive for marijuana.

Dead: Neal Rajapa

According to a New York Daily News article published on Friday last, Prosecutors disclosed that a blood sample taken from the teen two hours after the crash, tested positive for marijuana.
The article further disclosed that Beer was indicted by a Nassau County Grand Jury on a litany of charges that included aggravated vehicular homicide, vehicular manslaughter and driving while impaired by drugs.
Reports are that Beer’s parents, Patricia and Aaditia Beer, both Guyanese, were also charged with unlicensed operation of a vehicle for allowing the teen to drive without a licence. They each face 15 days in jail and a $300 fine.
Reports about the accident are that the teen, who resided in Queens, New York, lost control of his car on a dangerous stretch of the Southern State Parkway known as “Dead Man’s Curve,” on October 8.
The car careened into a wooded area and split into two after striking a tree. The four passengers- Darian Ramnarine, 18; Peter Kanhai, 18; Chris Khan, 18; and Neal Rajapa, 17 were all killed when they were tossed from the car.

Dead: Peter Kanhai

The four were pronounced dead at the scene. However, Beer was merely treated at a Long Island Hospital
The once promising Richmond Hill High School graduate, who only suffered minor injuries from the crash, only had a learner’s permit, which prohibited him from driving between 21:00 hrs and 5:00 hrs.
Kaieteur News understands that the Subaru Impreza was just given to the teen for graduating early from Richmond Hill High School and becoming a student of American St. John University.
New York police officials said that the teen “failed to negotiate a curve.”
Peter Kanhai, Chris Khan and Darian Ramnarine are said to have been popular graduates of Richmond Hill High School.
A nearby resident, Michael Campos, told New York reporters that the accident sounded like a “plane crash.”
Campos said when he went out to investigate, he found “a horror show.”
“I saw four bodies on the floor and I went by the road, on the highway, and it was slippery,” he said. “It was wet like it was just raining out.”
Loved ones at the scene had mixed emotions; some angry at Beer and others simply collected sad mementos from the

Dead: Chris Khan

scene — eyeglasses, flip-flops, a single gym shoe — before leaving.
Drivers with learner permits are prohibited from driving in the US unless accompanied by a supervising driver, age 21 or older, who has a valid licence, according to the state Department of Motor Vehicles.
That stretch of the parkway where the accident occurred is especially dangerous, according to Lakeview Fire Department Chief Heather Senti. She told the Wall Street Journal there had been two other single-vehicle crashes at the same spot on the day of the accident.
Neighbours had indicated to New York reporters that Beer is a smart teen who kept himself out of trouble

and was “always studying.”
Beer’s former Spanish teacher had nothing but praise. “He was a great student,” said Sally Shabana.