Man sentenced to 7-21 years for fatal drunk driving accident on Belt Parkway

August 8, 2019 Jaime DeJesus
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A 51-year-old man was sentenced to seven to 21 years in prison for driving drunk and causing a head-on collision with a Lyft vehicle in 2018 that killed one of the Lyft vehicle’s occupants and left two others with severe injuries.

Sheepshead Bay resident Aleh Sheipak pleaded guilty in June to aggravated vehicular homicide and aggravated driving while intoxicated.

According to Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, on July 12, 2018, at around 1:51 a.m., Sheipak was driving his 2011 Volkswagen Tiguan eastbound on the westbound lane of the Belt Parkway. The investigation found that Sheipak had driven over two miles in the wrong direction then collided head-on with a 2018 Honda Accord coming from John F. Kennedy Airport at exit three near the Verrazzano Bridge entrance ramp. The impact of the collision threw the Honda onto the guardrail in the center median.

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Gerald Obah, 27, was trapped in the backseat, while a second passenger, a 29-year-old woman, was catapulted into the front seat. The driver, a 20-year-old man, suffered significant injuries.

Obah was rushed to NYU Langone Hospital – Brooklyn, where he was pronounced dead. The woman was treated for multiple fractures and lacerations to her head, hip and leg.

The Lyft driver was taken to Maimonides Medical Center and treated for a broken leg, jaw fracture and lacerations to the face. Sheipak was also treated at Maimonides for minor injuries.

After officers obtained a warrant to test his blood alcohol level, Sheipak failed a sobriety test. His blood alcohol content at the time of the collision was in excess of .18, more than twice the legal limit.

“This defendant recklessly and illegally got behind the wheel of a car after drinking heavily, taking the life of a young man and seriously injuring two other people,” said Gonzalez. “He has now been held accountable for his criminal conduct.”

Photo courtesy of District Attorney’s Office

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