Guilty Verdict in Fatal Hit-and-Run of Dean LaLima

Written by Geoffrey Walter

The Williston Park man charged in the fatal hit-and-run that claimed the life of Grimaldi's pizza manager Dean LaLima was found guilty of all charges Thursday afternoon in Nassau County Courthouse.

Raymond Kalenka, 46, faces up to two-and-a-half to seven years in prison when he is scheduled to be sentenced in October, approximately 14 months after he ran over LaLima’s body near the intersection of Syracuse Street and Broad Street in the early morning hours of Aug. 12, 2012.

In his findings, Judge Jerald S. Carter stated that the case hinged on the wording of the hit-and-run statute and while “the initial contact might not have given cause” to believe that Kalenka hit a human being in the roadway, the key witness in the felony charge was a Williston Park security guard who was coming home from work in his own vehicle shortly after Kalenka.

Judge Carter said that the security guard “had not gotten to the corner” when he had observed the outline of a human body in the roadway surrounded by a pool of blood and that the guard’s vehicle headlights put the body “well within” their range. It was said during the trial that while the security guard’s car had its high-beams turned on, Kalenka’s Mercedes did not, but were of a range where a body could have been seen at distance.

On Tuesday during closing arguments, Kalenka’s defense attorney, Brian Davis, attempted to present LaLima as an alcoholic who could have collapsed or fallen down in the street, hitting his head before Kalenka’s car ran him over, masking any signs of trauma caused by an impact with the pavement.

Medical examiners had testified earlier that there was still alcohol in LaLima’s stomach when he died and Davis stated in his closing arguments that LaLima suffered from alcoholism, receiving treatment at a rehab facility, did not have a driver’s license and had been drinking that night. Davis noted that the black clothing worn by LaLima the night of the accident on the ground would have made LaLima’s body difficult to see as Kalenka was driving home.

Prosecutor Katie Zizza stated that Kalenka “had every reason to know that he hit a human body,” as he had driven down that road numerous times in his life and would have noticed a strange bump in the road that had not existed prior.

Kalenka then went to his Yale Street home, where he was seen by a neighbor inspecting his car and removing part of the wheel well lining that had come loose following the impact, leading to a charge of tampering with evidence. In his own testimony, Kalenka said that he did not see the lining and it had come loose and apparently fallen off while he was driving.

“Common sense would dictate whatever I hit in the road caused this damage – what the heck did I hit?” Carter asked, adding that while Kalenka might not have known that he hit a person on the initial pass, his route back to his parents’ home on Park Avenue took him near the same intersection.

“When he got back to that intersection he saw the outline of a human being,” Carter said.

“My son’s mistake was he walked in the street without looking,” LaLima’s mother, Janis, said outside the courtroom, not wanting Kalenka to receive the maximum penalty but for the laws in the State of New York to be changed to those of harsher penalties. “Now we have a little closure.”

“I feel justified that he was found guilty,” LaLima’s father, John, said after the verdict was read. “It won’t bring my son back. Now I just hope the judge throws the book at him. I know when the sentencing comes, I will (have) letters from people who knew (Dean) and that (Kalenka) gets the maximum and the other thing that I’m going to request of the judge is if it’s humanly possible, to never allow this man to drive a car again so he can never kill another innocent child.”

As he briskly exited the courtroom, Kalenka did not stop to talk to reporters or issue a statement.

“He was very disappointed,” Davis said of his client’s reaction to the verdict. “It’s going to have a very big affect on his family; the man’s got children and regardless of what was said he did express his sorrow at what happened.”

Kalenka is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 1. He has been out of jail on $25,000 bail since August 2012.

"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 DA Kathleen Rice said in a statement. “I hope this verdict provides Mr. LaLima's friends and family some solace with the knowledge that this defendant has been brought to justice.”

LaLima’s father plans to file a civil suit against Kalenka for wrongful death. “Whatever I can get from him to make him suffer as much as possible,” he said. “I don’t care about the money, I don’t need the money, it’s not about money, (it’s) to make him suffer.”

LaLima said any money gleaned from the civil suit would go into a trust fund for his grandchildren – Dean’s nephews – who are two, six and eight, as well as his two great-nieces, who are two and four.

“Any money that I get out of the wrongful death suit would be divvied up,” he said. “it’s not about money, it’s about making him pay.”