QUEENS, N.Y. — Ravindra Dharamjit, 26, was arraigned today in Queens County on multiple charges, including manslaughter and reckless driving, for a 2019 Christmas Day crash that claimed the life of 67-year-old Ainsley Dalrymple, a father of four from Hempstead. Dharamjit, who allegedly fled the country following the incident, was extradited from Guyana and faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced the indictment, stating, “The defendant is accused of driving 74 miles an hour – nearly three times the legal speed limit – when he struck and killed Ainsley Dalrymple. Rather than stop the vehicle and render aid, the defendant allegedly continued speeding through a busy intersection and later fled the country on a one-way ticket to Guyana.”
The charges stem from a fatal incident on December 25, 2019, at approximately 9:28 p.m., when Dalrymple was crossing Rockaway Boulevard between 113th Street and 114th Street in South Ozone Park. Dharamjit, allegedly driving a Toyota Tundra pickup truck at 74 miles per hour in a 25-mile-per-hour zone, struck Dalrymple, who was leaving a Christmas dinner at his son’s home. Dalrymple suffered severe head and body trauma and later died from his injuries at a local hospital.
According to the indictment, after hitting Dalrymple, Dharamjit allegedly drove through a red light at Rockaway Boulevard and Linden Boulevard, continued on the wrong side of the road, and fled the scene. On January 9, 2020, he reportedly left the United States on a one-way flight to Guyana.
Dharamjit was apprehended through the efforts of the District Attorney’s Extraditions Unit and the U.S. Marshals, who located him in Guyana and facilitated his return to New York to face the charges. He has been remanded by Acting Supreme Court Justice Danielle Hartman and is scheduled to return to court on August 27.