A 70-year-old man has been arrested in the hit-and-run death of rapper Nicki Minaj’s father.
Charles Polevich faces charges of leaving the scene of an incident and tampering with physical evidence in connection with the death last week of 64-year-old Robert Maraj on New York’s Long Island.
Maraj was struck by a car at 6:15 p.m. Friday while walking along Roslyn Road in Mineola. He was taken to a hospital and was pronounced dead on Saturday.
Police said Polevich exited his car after hitting Maraj, stood over him and asked if he was OK before walking back to his car and fleeing the scene. Polevich went home and parked his car in a detached garage in an attempt to conceal it from view, police said.
Polevich, who splits time between Long Island and Guam, is free on bail following an arraignment in Nassau County court. As a result of his arrest, his driver’s license has been suspended, he was ordered to surrender his passport and a judge said he can’t leave the state.
“He was absolutely aware of what happened,” Nassau County Police Detective Lt. Stephen Fitzpatrick said at a news conference.
“He got out of the car and he looked at the deceased, got into his car, and made the conscious decision to leave instead of dialing 911, instead of calling an ambulance for the man,” Fitzpatrick said. “He went home and secluded the vehicle. He’s well aware of what he did.”
Minaj, 38, was born Onika Tanya Maraj in Trinidad and was raised in the New York City borough of Queens. She has not made any public statement about her father’s death.
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