Nassau DA: Suspect in fatal 2005 crash extradited from India, charged with manslaughter

An Indian citizen was extradited Friday to face manslaughter charges in Nassau County, 20 years after a high-speed crash killed a Hicksville man and father of two.

Ganesh Shenoy, 54, had fled to India following the April 11, 2005, crash that killed Philip Mastropolo, 44, of Hicksville, at the intersection of Levittown Parkway and Old Country Road, Nassau County prosecutors said Monday.

Authorities estimated Shenoy was going between 75 and 84 mph at the time of the crash where the speed limit was posted at 40 mph. He was driving a 1993 Volvo when he ran a red light and T-boned Mastropolo’s 1993 Cadillac sedan, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said.

The force of the crash hurtled Mastropolo's car about 65 feet into the front of a box truck across the intersection waiting at a red light, Donnelly said. The Cadillac was destroyed and thrust the box truck, loaded with 10,000 pounds of cargo, back several feet, Donnelly said. 

Shenoy was taken to at a hospital following the crash but declined medical treatment and fled to India two weeks later, Donnelly said.

"He wanted a quick getaway, and in the days that followed, it became clear why," Donnelly said. "The defendant told police at the time, he had a green light and that Philip had suddenly pulled in front of him. But the surveillance video that captured the fatal crash revealed that story to be a complete fabrication."

Mastropolo, was the father of two children, 20 and 16 at the time, and was heading to work as a maintenance supervisor at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens before the 6 a.m. crash, Donnelly said. 

His family could not be reached to discuss the charges Monday. 

Shenoy was a student at SUNY Old Westbury at the time of the crash and was working in the IT field, Donnelly said. He had been arrested 12 days before the crash for falsely reporting his car was stolen, Donnelly said. 

He had turned over his driver's license and Indian passport following the crash, but was believed to have gotten a replacement passport through the Indian embassy, Donnelly said. 

Prosecutors said Shenoy fought extradition for 18 years before he had exhausted his appeals in India and was returned Friday by U.S. marshals to face a second-degree manslaughter charge in Mastropolo’s death.

Shenoy has been in custody since Sept. 8, prosecutors said. He was returned to Nassau County Court on Friday, where he pleaded not guilty to a grand jury’s indictment on the manslaughter charge. If convicted, he could face up to 15 years in prison.

The grand jury first issued the manslaughter indictment in August 2005, prompting the court to issue an arrest warrant and an international Interpol Red Notice, Donnelly said. Prosecutors initiated extradition proceedings in 2006. Shenoy was arrested in India a year later, but he had been free on bail while fighting extradition.

His Mineola-based attorney, George Michel, said that ultimately Shenoy surrendered for extradition.

"He's glad to be back in the United States to face these legal issues," Michel said Monday. 

Mastropolo's children attended Shenoy's arraignment Friday to see charges brought in their father's death.

"The first thing the family said was, 'We never thought this day would come,' " said Michael Bushwack, bureau chief of the district attorney's vehicular crimes unit.