By:  Hellen Zaboulani

On Monday, the U.S. open honored aspiring tennis stars killed four months ago by an alleged drunk driver on Long Island.

As reported by the NY Post, the parents of Drew Hassenbein and Ethan Falkowitz were brought onto the tennis court at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Queens for the coin flip for the launch of the tournament’s first round.  Both of the boys were 14-year-old eighth graders from Roslyn Middle School and had been killed on May 3 in a tragic car crash.  The heartbroken parents fought tears as they accepted the honor.  “This was Drew’s home — this is where he wanted to be,” said Mitchell Hassenbein, father of Drew. “It’s tough to be here. But I know that he would want me to be here. And that’s why I’m here. It’s very nice that the US Open is honoring them.”

Amandeep Singh, 34, allegedly slammed his Dodge Ram into the Alfa Romeo in which the boys were riding on May 3rd.  He was allegedly driving at nearly 100 mph going South on northbound lanes of North Broadway in Jericho, per prosecutors.  Singh had fled the scene, and police had found him later, hiding behind a dumpster at a nearby shopping center, said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly.  Four hours after the accident, Singh still had cocaine and nearly twice the legal limit of alcohol in his bloodstream, Donnelly alleged.  He was allegedly so drunk that he was under the impression that he was in New Jersey when he was arrested in Nassau County, prosecutors said.  “What are you guys doing here?” Singh had reportedly asked cops. “Aren’t we in New Jersey?”

“It was a catastrophic crash that miraculously the defendant was able to survive relatively unscathed,” DA Donnelly said. “But he didn’t stay at the scene to face the accountability for the destruction he had just caused. He fled the scene on foot.”  Singh is being held in jail without bail on charges of manslaughter, vehicular manslaughter, vehicular homicide, assault, driving while intoxicated and leaving the scene of an accident, among other counts.  “Probably one of the most catastrophic scenes I’ve seen in a long time,” Nassau Det. Capt. Stephen Fitzpatrick had said at the time. “It was almost like the car exploded, that’s how fast the driver hit that car with these kids in it.”

Both of the boys had been promising players on the varsity soccer team at Roslyn High School.  When the tragic crash occurred the teens had been on their way back home from getting some food after a local tennis event, per WABC.  Their other friends, a 17-year-old, who was driving, and a 16-year-old, were also in the car and suffered injuries, but were in stable condition.  Hassenbein and Falkowitz, who were seated on the right side of the car, in the front and back, had suffered the brunt of the impact.

Gary Falkowitz, Ethan’s grieving father, said even the US Open’s gesture only helped  very little in easing the intense pain of losing a child.  “Every day is the same nightmare,” said Falkowitz.