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Starlin Manuel Diaz Felipe

Age : 19

Gender : Male

Race : Latino/a/e

Date : 10/19/2021

Location : North Ocean Avenue and Express Drive South

City : Holtsville

County : Suffolk

State : New York

Agency : Suffolk County Police Department

Officer(s) :Not disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Driver killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

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REASON WHY PURSUIT WAS INITIATED:
At approximately 11:30 p.m., Suffolk County Police officers in a marked patrol vehicle saw a 2004 Toyota Tacoma displaying license plates that had been reported stolen. Officers attempted a traffic stop at Long Island Avenue and Gazebo Lane in Holtsville. The driver continued driving away, and police initiated a pursuit with emergency lights and siren. The stolen license plates—not information discovered after the crash—were the stated reason for the attempted stop.
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OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY:
On 10/19/2021, Suffolk County Police pursued the Toyota southbound on North Ocean Avenue after the attempted stop for the stolen license plates. Later court reporting established that the high-speed pursuit lasted approximately 10–11 minutes.
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At approximately 11:40 p.m., the fleeing vehicle reached North Ocean Avenue and Express Drive South and crashed into a Honda Civic traveling east through the intersection. The impact was severe enough to knock down a red-light camera. The Honda's driver, 19-year-old Starlin Manuel Diaz Felipe of Medford, was killed at the scene.
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Twenty-five-year-old Tariasha Smith of West Babylon, a passenger in the fleeing vehicle, was ejected during the collision and transported to Stony Brook University Hospital in serious condition. Later court reporting described her injuries as including a brain bleed and broken jaw.
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Starlin was a 19-year-old Medford resident and recent Longwood High School graduate, Class of 2019. He had finished high school only about two years before he was killed. The publicly indexed reporting located on his death focuses overwhelmingly on the crash and prosecution; it does not reliably establish where Starlin was driving that night, his destination, occupation, or detailed family statements, so those details should not be invented or replaced with material about the fleeing driver.
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DISPOSITION:
Robert Hengeveld was initially charged after the crash and was later indicted on charges including aggravated vehicular homicide and second-degree manslaughter. In June 2022, Hengeveld pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide, first-degree unlawfully fleeing a police officer, criminal possession of stolen property, reckless driving and driving while impaired by drugs.
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No Suffolk County Police officer was criminally charged for the officer's role in initiating or continuing the approximately 10–11-minute high-speed pursuit.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Suffolk County Police Department did not publicly identify the officer or officers who initiated and participated in the fatal pursuit. A deeper search of subsequent prosecution coverage and later reporting did not produce a sufficiently verified officer identity to place on the Officer(s) line.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.newsday.com/long-island/crime/suffolk-police-pursuit-fatal-crash-holtsville-1.50368978
https://abc7ny.com/holtsville-fatal-crash-police-chase-stolen-vehicle/11063734/
https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/holtsville-fatal-crash/
https://longisland.news12.com/police-1-dead-1-in-custody-following-holtsville-crash
https://patch.com/new-york/sachem/1-arrested-after-deadly-suffolk-crash-police
https://longisland.news12.com/man-accused-of-leading-police-on-fatal-holtsville-chase-pleads-not-guilty-to-vehicular-manslaughter
https://dailyvoice.com/article/man-pleads-guilty-in-suffolk-county-crash-that-killed-teen-following-high-speed-pursuit/