A man was arrested on Wednesday in connection with the death of rapper Nicki Minaj’s father.
The musician’s father, Robert Maraj, was walking down a road in Mineola on Long Island at 6:15 p.m. Friday when he was hit by a car that was stopping, Nassau police said.
Charles Polevich, 70, is facing charges that he left the scene of an incident and committed physical evidence in connection with the death last week of 64-year-old Robert Maraj on Long Island in New York.
Reportedly, he only paused briefly to ask Maraj if he was okay, but did not call for help.
Polevich, who divides time between Long Island and Guam, is bail-free after a Nassau court ruling. As a result of his arrest, his driver’s license was suspended, he was ordered to hand over his passport and a judge said he could not leave the state.
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“He was absolutely aware of what had happened,” Detective Lieutenant Stephen Fitzpatrick told Nassau County police at a news conference.
“He got out of the car and looked at the deceased, got in his car and made the conscious decision to leave instead of calling 911, instead of calling an ambulance for the man,” Fitzpatrick said . “He went home and isolated the vehicle. He is well aware of what he has done. ‘
The 64-year-old father of rapper Nicki Minaj has died after being hit by a hit-and-run driver in New York, police said. Robert Maraj was walking down a road in Mineola on Long Island at 6:15 p.m. Friday when he was hit by a car that was stopping, Nassau police said.
(Matt Sayles / Invision / AP, file)
Polevich’s lawyer sent a message to comment.
Maraj was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead on Saturday, February 13th.
Polevich got out of his car after hitting Maraj, stood over him and asked if he was okay before getting back to his car and fleeing the scene, police said. Polevich went home and parked his car in a detached garage in an attempt to hide it, police said.
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Polevich surrendered Wednesday after detectives used pieces of surveillance videos to track down the car involved in the crash – a 1992 white Volvo station wagon – to Polevich’s Mineola home, Fitzpatrick said.
Minaj, 38, was born Onika Tanya Maraj in Trinidad and was raised in New York City, Queens. She made no public statement about her father’s death.
Minaj has talked in the past about a strained relationship with her father.
In interviews, she said Robert Maraj suffered from drug addiction and was offensive to her mother and once set fire to their home with her insides.
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Minaj refers to her father in the song “Autobiography” from 2008, in which she said, “They should throw the book at you, because I hate you so much that it burns when I look at you.”
Robert Maraj calls his daughter’s allegations ‘exaggerated’.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.