A Williston Park man faces up to seven years in prison after he was convicted Thursday in the hit-and-run incident that killed 41-year-old Albertson resident Dean LaLima last year.
Raymond Kalenka, 46, of 86 Yale Street in Williston Park, was found guilty of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death and tampering with physical evidence at the conclusion of the two-week bench trial presided over by Nassau County Judge Jerald Carter.
“The evidence clearly showed that Kalenka knew what he had done, had every opportunity to notify the police, and then went a step further by covering up his actions,” Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice said in a statement. “I hope this verdict provides Mr. Kalenka’s friends and family some solace with the knowledge that this defendant has been brought to justice.”
On Aug. 12, 2012, Kalenka was driving his 2006 Mercedes-Benz northbound on Broad Street at 3:45 a.m. when he hit LaLima, who was riding his bicycle home from Grimaldi’s Pizza in Garden City where he was a host and manager.
Kalenka then continued to his home and removed a piece of the inner fender liner on the driver’s side of his car that had been knocked loose when he hit LaLima and still has not been recovered, according to a press release from Rice’s office.
LaLima, 41, was found lying in the roadway at Syracuse Street and Broad Street at 4:10 a.m. and pronounced dead at the scene by a Nassau County Ambulance Advanced Medical Technician at 4:20 a.m., having sustained a fractured skull, collarbone, pelvis and other injuries to his head and legs.
“Dean was a great friend of not only the [Garden City] Chamber of Commerce. He was a friend of many chamber members and residents around the village,” Althea Robinson, executive director of the Garden City Chamber of Commerce, said in the incident’s aftermath. “He will be very sorely missed by many of us.”
The accident was the second tragedy to strike Grimaldi’s in a year. In November 2011, the restaurant’s owner and a close friend of LaLima’s, Russell Cioli, died suddenly.
Susan Eigl, a senior real estate specialist at The Donnelly Group in Garden City, said after the accident that she became friends with LaLima after meeting him through Ciolli.
“It’s very shocking. He was a very warm, friendly loving person,” she said. “He was a big personna at Grimaldi’s, very accommodating, very good at his job. I’m just hoping they’ll find who did this.”
Two days after the incident, Kalenka was arrested by the Nassau County Police Department’s Homicide Squad, who had received tips in response to a Crime Stoppers Bulletin that had been released.
Kalenka’s car was identified as the one investigators were seeking, though a police spokesperson at the time did not disclose how police identified the vehicle.
Assistant District Attorneys Katie E. Zizza and Christopher M. Casa of the Rice’s Vehicular Crimes Bureau prosecuted the case, while Kalenka was represented by Brian J. Davis, whose office is based in Garden City.
Davis declined to comment, but told Newsday he plans to file an appeal.
“I understand the judge’s reasoning, but I’m disappointed with the verdict,” Davis told Newsday.
