Singas: Queens man sentenced for manslaughter, assault

A Queens man was sentenced to five to 10 years in prison for manslaughter, assault and other charges related to a fatal hit-and-run car crash on Hempstead Turnpike that killed an Elmont man in April 2016, Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said Thursday. 

Duke Obule, 24, struck and killed Paul Mitacek, 47, a taxi driver from Elmont, and injured a passenger in the car he was driving, Singas said, who also recommended Obule receive a maximum sentence of 7-1/2 to 15 years on the manslaughter charge.

"This cowardly defendant's outrageous recklessness cost the life of an innocent and hardworking father of three when he sped into Paul Mitacek's cab and then fled the scene," DA Singas said. "This sentence sends a clear message to those who drive with a suspended license, dangerously speed, and leave the scene of a crash that they will face serious consequences for their recklessness. My heart goes out to the Mitacek family for their loss." 

Singas said that at approximately 4:16 a.m. on April 23, 2016, Obule was driving eastbound on Hempstead Turnpike, in the rain, at speeds up to 105 MPH, in a 2016 BMW, with a 20-year old female passenger in the front seat. Obule's license was suspended on April 7, 2016 in Queens. 

Officials said that Obule and his female passenger were traveling from a hookah lounge in Farmingdale before crashing into Mitacek's 2009 Chevrolet Impala taxi cab. 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. Mitacek died in the car. He was the father of three children between the ages of seven and 12 and was out working in his cab car at the time of the crash.  

According to authorities, after the crash, Obule left his car and ran from the scene, abandoning his passenger who was disabled due to injuries. She was carried to a bench by witnesses and later taken to the hospital with a broken ankle when the police arrived at the scene. Obule was found near the scene less than an hour later, still carrying his car keys. 

Obule pleaded guilty on June 7 in front of Supervising Judge Christopher Quinn to 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, third-degree assault and second-degree aggravated unlicensed operating of a motor vehicle.

Jason Russo, Esq. represented Obule.