Old Westbury Sep 29 #ps26nd: Indian man wanted in 2005…

Indian man wanted in 2005 fatal car crash on Long Island finally extradited back in Old Westbury Nassau County Sep 29, 2025.

Updated Sep 29, 2025
CRITICAL INCIDENT
Town
Old Westbury
County
nassau County
Reported
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News Sources
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What Happened

Ganesh Shenoy, 54, an Indian national accused of causing a fatal crash on Long Island 20 years ago, has been extradited back to the United States and is now behind bars, Nassau County prosecutors announced Monday. Shenoy was recently taken into custody in his native country after allegedly causing a crash that killed Philip Mastropolo, a 44-year-old Hicksville father, in April 2005.

According to witnesses and surveillance video, Shenoy was driving at an extremely high rate of speed when he ran a red light on Old Country Road and struck a car driven by Mastropolo, who was less than a mile from his home and on his way to work when he was killed. Shenoy was 33 years old at the time of the crash and was a student at SUNY Old Westbury.

Despite handing over his passport to police following the crash, Shenoy left the hospital and fled the country. He was in Mumbai when he was indicted and is believed to have obtained a replacement passport to escape prosecution. “For the next 18 years he fought extradition to the U.S. He was living freely in India out on bail. He thought he got away with it,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said.

Mastropolo left behind a wife and two children, who are now adults. His children were present in court Friday when Shenoy faced an American judge for the first time in two decades. “They were elated and the defendant was expressionless,” Assistant DA Michael Bushwack said. “The first thing the family said was, ‘We never thought this day would come,’” Donnelly added.

The Mastropolo family released a statement saying: “Philip Mastropolo was a great husband and father whose life was taken too soon under circumstances that we still believe deserve answers, accountability, and closure. Our family is grateful for the new developments and renewed attention to the case. We’re hopeful that justice may finally be within reach after 20 years.”

Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said Shenoy was extradited to the U.S. on Friday after running out of legal options in Indian courts. “Today is great day for justice,” Donnelly said. “Prosecutors in this office never give up on a case, because justice, no matter how long it takes, is always worth fighting for. We got him, and he’s not getting away from us again.”

Location & Road Context

The fatal collision occurred on Old Country Road in Nassau County, where Shenoy ran a red light at high speed before striking Mastropolo’s vehicle. The crash happened less than a mile from Mastropolo’s Hicksville home as he was traveling to work. Old Country Road serves as a major east-west thoroughfare through Nassau County, connecting multiple communities across Long Island.

Shenoy was extradited back to the United States on Friday after evading law enforcement and dodging prosecution for two decades. A Nassau County judge ordered him held without bail during his first court appearance. The case represents one of the longest international fugitive pursuits in Nassau County history, with prosecutors saying they never gave up on seeking justice for the victim’s family despite the 20-year timeframe.

Broader Impact

This extradition demonstrates the persistence of Nassau County prosecutors in pursuing international fugitives, even in cases spanning two decades. The successful extradition from India, where Shenoy had been fighting removal proceedings for 18 years while living freely on bail, shows that suspects cannot escape accountability by fleeing to their home countries after committing crimes on Long Island.

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Old WestburyNassau CountyNassau County accidentOld Westbury trafficOld Westbury accidentserious accidentLong Island accident todayLong Island traffic todayLong IslandNY

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I do if I'm in a car accident in Old Westbury?

Call 911 immediately if anyone is injured or if the vehicles can't be moved safely off the roadway. Stay at the scene — leaving the scene of an accident with injuries is a crime under New York Vehicle and Traffic Law §600. Exchange license, registration, and insurance information with every other driver involved. Take photographs of every vehicle, the position of the vehicles before they're moved, all license plates, the road surface, traffic signs, and any visible injuries. Get the names and phone numbers of every witness — police often won't capture bystander witnesses on their own. Seek medical attention within 24 hours even if you feel fine; soft-tissue injuries and concussions can take a day or two to present, and a delayed medical visit weakens an injury claim. NCPD generally responds to accidents on Nassau County roads outside of incorporated villages with their own police forces (e.g., Garden City, Freeport). For state highways (I-495 LIE, Northern State Parkway, Southern State Parkway, Meadowbrook Parkway, Wantagh Parkway), New York State Police Troop L responds.

How long do I have to file a no-fault claim in New York?

Thirty days. New York Insurance Law §5102 requires you to file a Personal Injury Protection (PIP/no-fault) application with the insurer of the vehicle you were in (or, if you were a pedestrian or cyclist, with the insurer of the striking vehicle) within 30 days of the accident. Missing the 30-day deadline can void your no-fault benefits — that's up to $50,000 in medical bills and 80% of lost wages (capped at $2,000/month) per injured person. The form is the NF-2 application; your insurance carrier provides it on request. New York no-fault is a true PIP system: it pays regardless of who caused the crash.

What counts as a "serious injury" under New York law?

Under Insurance Law §5102(d), a "serious injury" is one that meets at least one of these categories: (1) death; (2) dismemberment; (3) significant disfigurement; (4) a fracture; (5) loss of a fetus; (6) permanent loss of use of a body organ, member, function, or system; (7) permanent consequential limitation of use of a body organ or member; (8) significant limitation of use of a body function or system; or (9) a medically determined injury that prevents the injured person from performing substantially all daily activities for at least 90 of the first 180 days following the accident. Only injuries that meet one of these nine categories create the right to sue the at-fault driver for pain and suffering damages — short of that threshold, recovery is limited to no-fault PIP benefits. Disputes over whether an injury meets the threshold are the single most-litigated issue in NY motor-vehicle cases.

How long do I have to sue after a Long Island car accident?

Three years from the date of the accident for personal injury claims under CPLR §214(5). Wrongful death claims have a two-year deadline under EPTL §5-4.1. If a government entity is involved (a county vehicle, a road defect on a state highway, a defective traffic signal, a county bus), you must file a Notice of Claim within 90 days under General Municipal Law §50-e — that's a non-negotiable jurisdictional deadline, and missing it usually bars the claim entirely. Property-damage-only claims have the same three-year clock. The clock starts on the day of the accident, not the day you discover the full extent of an injury.

Can I still recover compensation if I was partly at fault?

Yes. New York is a pure comparative negligence state under CPLR §1411. Even if you were 90% at fault, you can still recover 10% of your damages. (A pending 2026 budget proposal would change this to a 51% bar — meaning a plaintiff who is more than 50% at fault would recover nothing — but that hasn't passed.) Insurance carriers routinely try to inflate the injured driver's percentage of fault to reduce payouts. The percentage assignment is decided by the jury at trial (or negotiated during settlement); it isn't fixed by the police accident report and isn't binding even when the report assigns fault. Reporting practice and the actual legal apportionment are separate questions.

Who can file a wrongful death claim in New York?

Under EPTL §5-4.1, only the personal representative (executor or administrator) of the deceased's estate can bring a wrongful death action — not the deceased's family directly. The estate is opened in Surrogate's Court of the county where the deceased lived. Damages flow to the spouse, children, parents, and other distributees defined under EPTL §4-1.1. Recoverable damages include loss of financial support, loss of parental guidance for surviving children, and conscious pre-death pain and suffering (recovered through a separate "survival action" under EPTL §11-3.2). New York is unusual in NOT allowing surviving family members to recover for their own emotional grief — only economic losses to the estate. The wrongful-death two-year statute of limitations is shorter than the three-year personal-injury statute, so the deadline is critical.

How do I get a copy of the police accident report?

If Nassau County Police Department (NCPD) responded to the scene, the report is filed under an MV-104A form. In New York State, you can request a copy through the DMV at https://dmv.ny.gov/vehicle-safety/get-copy-accident-report (roughly $7 online, $10 by mail) once the responding agency has uploaded it to the state system, which usually takes 5-10 business days. NCPD and SCPD also have their own direct-request processes through the precinct that responded. If you weren't injured but the property damage exceeded $1,000, New York VTL §605 requires you (the driver) to file your own MV-104 report with the DMV within 10 days regardless of whether police responded.

How dangerous is This Road near Old Westbury?

Long Island Traffic tracks every reported incident on this road across both counties — see the road profile page for the multi-year accident count, severity distribution, and the specific intersections that show repeated incident clusters. Suffolk and Nassau county roads with chronic problems are reviewed by their respective DOTs on a multi-year cadence; persistent issues are sometimes addressed with new signal phasing, lane-narrowing treatments, or — in extreme cases — a Vision Zero engineering response. Daily incident updates flow into our live-events feed every fifteen minutes.

Disclaimer: Incident information on this page is compiled from public sources including police reports, traffic agencies, and news outlets. It is provided for informational purposes only and may not reflect the most current status of this incident. Do not rely on this information for legal, insurance, or emergency decisions. For emergencies, call 911.