Alleged Drunk Driver in Fatal High Speed Nassau Crash Pleads Not Guilty to All Charges: DA

FRANKLIN SQUARE, NY - A Queens man accused driving drunk when he crashed into a taxi in Hempstead, killing the cab driver after the taxi slammed into a utility pole back in April plead not guilty to all charges in court on Monday, according to the District Attorney's office.

Duke Obule, 23, was arraigned before Court of Claims Judge Alan Honorof on the following charges:

• second degree manslaughter
• second degree assault
• leaving the scene of an incident without reporting resulting in death
• leaving the scene of an incident without reporting resulting in physical injury
• second degree reckless endangerment
• third degree assault 
• reckless driving
• second degree aggravated unlicensed operating of a motor vehicle
• third degree aggravated unlicensed operating of a motor vehicle 

His bail was set at $500,000 bond or $250,000 and he due back in court June 28. 

Obule could face up to 15 years in prison if he is found guilty on the top charge. 

At 4:16 a.m. on April 23, Obule was driving eastbound at a high rate of speed on Hempstead Turnpike in a 2016 BMW with a 20-year old woman passenger in the front seat, the DA said.

He was allegedly traveling from a hookah lounge in Farmingdale when he drove the BMW up to 105 miles per hour on Hempstead Turnpike and crashed into the taxi being driven by a driver for a local taxi cab company, according to the DA.

The impact, which was caught on surveillance video, pushed the taxi into a telephone pole on the corner of Hempstead Turnpike and Lincoln Road. 

The taxi nearly wrapped around the pole, and the driver, 47-year-old Paul Mitacek, of Elmont, died in the car, the DA said.

Obule then allegedly exited the car and ran from the scene, the DA said.

His passenger stayed in the car until the police arrived, and was later taken to the hospital with a broken ankle. 

He was found near the scene less than an hour later and was allegedly carrying the key to the BMW, according to the DA.

He currently has an open case in Queens and is due back in court on those charges on June 23.

“It is unthinkable that a driver would travel more than 100 mph at any hour of the day or night on Hempstead Turnpike, with its 35 mph speed limit and around-the-clock traffic,” DA Madeline Singas said. “Mr. Mitacek was simply doing his job driving a taxi on Hempstead Turnpike when the defendant’s BMW slammed his cab into a pole and stole his life. That kind of speed shows a complete disregard for the lives of anyone who was on the road and he will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”