A 70-year-old driver is facing charges after police said he hit superstar rapper Nicki Minaj’s father on a Mineola road last week before killing the pedestrian and leaving his car in the garage. hid his nearby house.
Charles Polevich of Mineola remained silent Wednesday morning as detectives walked into handcuffs at police headquarters in Nassau for a virtual order on charges of leaving the scene of a fatal crash and tampering with physical evidence.
According to authorities, Robert Maraj (64) of Mineola died in a hospital on Saturday after Polevich’s white Volvo station wagon hit him in 1992 at around 18:15 on Friday while he was walking in the driveway on Roslyn Road in Rafflaan. According to police, Maraj and Polevich went north, believing that Maraj was either walking home or to a nearby store.
After hitting Maraj, Polevich first stopped, but then left the scene after seeing he had Maraj, the Nassau police officer, Det. Lieutenant Stephen Fitzpatrick said at a media conference on Wednesday.
“He was absolutely aware of what was happening,” Fitzpatrick said of Polevich. “He got out of the car and he looked at the deceased, got in his car and made the conscious decision to leave instead of calling 911.”
A criminal complaint also said Polevich stood above Maraj and asked him if he was okay before returning to his car and leaving the area.
Video recordings in the area helped lead police to Polevich while they worked to track down the movements of the older model Volvo.
“We tracked it down right to his house,” Fitzpatrick said, adding that Polevich also smeared the vehicle in his garage.
The lieutenant said police did not get the chance to evaluate Polevich for any alcohol or drug use at the scene because he fled. But if Polevich had stayed and been sober, there would have been no criminal charges, Fitzpatrick said.
Polevich turned himself in to police Wednesday morning with his attorney, Michael Scotto. He then pleaded not guilty to his protest.
Nassau District Court Judge Lisa Petrocelli set Polevich’s bail at $ 250,000 or $ 125,000 in cash, ordering him to surrender his passport and remain in New York State if released from prison. The judge also suspended his driver’s license and set his next court date for Friday.
Polevich remained in custody for hours after his arrest, but Scotto said Wednesday night that his client had posted bail and was released from prison.
The lawyer also issued a statement calling the deadly encounter “a tragic accident” and said he and his client’s thoughts were with Maraj’s family.
Polevich owns an environmental drilling company in Guam and, according to police, also has a home in the U.S. area where he spends about nine months a year. They said he had no criminal history or a record of driving offenses.
Carol Maraj, the victim’s estranged wife, told Newsday on Wednesday that her family was relieved about the progress in the case.
“I am very, very, very happy about the arrest,” she said, adding that all of Maraj’s children were “satisfied” that the alleged culprit had been caught in their father’s death.
Nicki Minaj, who was born as Onika Maraj in Trinidad and Tobago and grew up in Queens, had not yet issued a public statement early Wednesday night about her father’s death or Polevich’s arrest. The 38-year-old said in interviews that she used music as an escape from a difficult childhood, and said her father was abusive and struggling with an addiction to drugs and alcohol.
David Schwartz, a lawyer in Garden City who previously represented Minaj’s brother, Jelani Maraj, in a local sexual abuse trial, told Newsday after the fatal crash that Robert Maraj was at his son’s trial every day and Jelani very much loved.
A jury in Nassau in 2017 found Jelani Maraj guilty of sexually assaulting his former stepdaughter, when she was 11 years old. He is serving a 25-year prison sentence.
With Joan Gralla and Cecilia Dowd