What Happened
Rajvir Bharaj, of New Hyde Park, pleaded guilty on Friday, Sept. 11, 2026, to manslaughter, assault, leaving the scene of an incident resulting in death, and driving while intoxicated in connection with the June 6, 2025, death of Lidia Rivera on Lakeville Road in Lake Success, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly announced Monday, Sept. 14. Bharaj faces four to 12 years in state prison. He is due back in court Nov. 13.
Rivera, 61, had just finished her shift as a custodian at a Northwell Health facility on the night of Friday, June 6, 2025, and was walking to a bus stop when she stepped into the crosswalk on Lakeville Road, according to Long Island Press. Bharaj, driving a 2024 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck southbound on Lakeville Road, struck her at a high rate of speed, Donnelly said. The force of the impact launched Rivera airborne and propelled her into the glass panel of the bus stop waiting booth.
Rivera suffered a skull fracture and severing of her brain stem from her spinal cord, Donnelly said. She was pronounced dead at a hospital.
After the collision, Bharaj drove away without calling 911, per Long Island Press. He stopped his Silverado approximately one mile from the crash site. He then repeatedly called a friend who is a New York City Police officer and sent that same friend a text message asking, “Should I leave,” Donnelly said. Bharaj walked back to the crash scene nearly 15 minutes after emergency services had already responded. He was arrested there.
A blood draw taken approximately five hours after the crash measured Bharaj’s blood alcohol concentration at 0.12%, above New York’s legal limit of 0.08%, Donnelly said. Bharaj had spent the majority of that evening at a bar in Freeport. Before going to the bar, he shared a bottle of tequila with friends, the DA said.
Location & Road Context
Lakeville Road runs through Lake Success, a village in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County. The stretch where Rivera was struck sits near the Nassau-Queens border and carries a mix of commercial and commuter pedestrian traffic, particularly around bus stops serving workers on late shifts. Full road history for Lakeville Road is tracked here.
Investigation & Legal Proceedings
Bharaj pleaded guilty Sept. 11 to four counts: manslaughter in the second degree, assault, leaving the scene of an incident resulting in death, and driving while intoxicated, according to DA Donnelly’s announcement. Nassau County prosecutors secured the plea less than 16 months after the crash. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 13, 2026, in Nassau County court, where Bharaj is expected to receive four to 12 years in prison.
The detail that Bharaj texted an NYPD officer asking whether he should leave the scene, and then returned only after first responders had already arrived, was cited by the DA’s office in describing the circumstances of his arrest at the crash site, per Long Island Press.
What This DWI Charge Means
New York Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1192 sets three impairment thresholds. A BAC between 0.05% and 0.07% constitutes Driving While Ability Impaired (DWAI) under § 1192.1. A BAC of 0.08% or higher is Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) under § 1192.2, which is what Bharaj faced. A BAC of 0.18% or higher triggers Aggravated DWI under § 1192.2-a, carrying steeper mandatory minimums. Bharaj’s measured BAC of 0.12% placed him squarely in the standard DWI range.
A first-offense DWI in New York carries a fine of $500 to $1,000, a minimum six-month license revocation, a mandatory DMV surcharge, and up to one year in jail. Courts also require installation of an ignition interlock device for the duration of any probation period. When a DWI results in a death, as here, the charge escalates to at least second-degree manslaughter under Penal Law § 125.15, which carries a sentence of up to 15 years in state prison. Bharaj’s expected sentence of four to 12 years reflects the full manslaughter conviction, not the DWI alone.
Drivers who refuse a chemical test in New York face an automatic one-year license revocation under VTL § 1194, a $500 civil penalty on a first refusal, and the refusal itself can be introduced as evidence of consciousness of guilt at trial.
Case Status & Updates
Bharaj pleaded guilty and is not presumed innocent at this stage. His plea constitutes an admission to all four counts. An arrest or charge, absent a plea or verdict, is an accusation only; the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Long Island Traffic tracks DWI cases from charge through sentencing. This report will be updated following the Nov. 13 sentencing in Nassau County court. Prior coverage of DWI arrests and convictions on Long Island is archived here.