Queens teen sentenced to 18 years for deadly crash of stolen car with owner on the hood
A South Ozone Park man has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for stealing a car and then causing a crash that put its owner — who’d been clinging to the roof — into a coma for 11 months, eventually killing him.
The sentencing Friday in a Queens court comes more than two years after Mahindra Hansraj, 19, stole a 2006 Lexus RX belonging to 29-year-old Tauree Thompson of Richmond Hill, according to the Queens District Attorney’s Office.
Thompson jumped onto the roof of his car as it was being stolen shortly before 10 p.m. on Feb. 20, 2023, prosecutors said.
Hansraj then sped off through a red light on Lefferts Boulevard and crashed into a fire hydrant in South Ozone Park, according to the DA.
Thompson suffered a traumatic brain injury and spent 11 months in a coma before dying in January of last year, the Queens DA said.
“We hope today’s sentence brings a measure of comfort to Thompon’s loved ones as they continue to mourn his senseless loss,” DA Melinda Katz said in a statement on Friday.
Hansraj pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the first degree in September.
He will also face five years of post-release supervision following the 18-year prison sentence.
An attorney for Hansraj didn’t immediately return messages seeking comment.
