Varun Datt jumped sidewalk while driving drunk, striking and injuring a man and child
MINEOLA, N.Y. – Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced a Syosset man was sentenced to three to nine years in prison for striking a man and his 3-year-old niece while driving drunk on a residential street in May 2021.
Varun Datt, 37, pleaded guilty in April 2022 before Judge Caryn Fink on charges including Aggravated Vehicular Assault (a C felony); Assault in the Second Degree (a D felony); and Aggravated Driving While Intoxicated (an E felony). The defendant was sentenced today to a maximum of three to nine years in prison.
“After jumping the sidewalk and colliding with a man and his 3-year-old niece, who was found with minor injuries underneath the defendant’s vehicle, Datt simply sat behind the wheel, heavily intoxicated and surrounded by empty bottles of alcohol,” said DA Donnelly. “The defendant was more than three times the legal limit when he was arrested. Thankfully, no one was killed as a result of the defendant’s reckless and perilous decision to drink and drive. Today’s sentence serves as a warning: if you drink and drive, you will be prosecuted, and could spend significant time in prison.”
DA Donnelly said, according to the indictment and investigation, on May 31, 2021, at approximately 4:30 p.m. the defendant, driving while intoxicated, veered onto the wrong side of a residential street in Syosset where a man was standing with his 3-year-old niece. The defendant’s vehicle jumped the curb onto the sidewalk and struck both victims. The car finally came to rest after striking a parked car head-on.
When police arrived on scene, Datt was still in the driver’s seat of the vehicle. Two empty bottles of rum and vodka were found in the car. The defendant’s sweatshirt also contained one full bottle of whiskey and two empty bottles.
The male victim was taken to Nassau University Medical Center where he was treated for extensive injuries, including a tear in his knee that required wheelchair use for six weeks.
The girl was taken to Cohen Children’s Medical Center where she was treated for abrasions and trauma.
Datt was arrested on May 31, 2021, in Syosset by detectives of the Nassau County Police Department.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Brooke Salvatore of the Vehicular Crimes Bureau. The defendant is represented by John Powers, Esq.
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