A Bay Shore man pleaded guilty to his role in a drunken April 2025 crash in Massapequa that killed a 48-year-old husband and seriously injured his wife. The defendant’s father also pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment for serving his son alcohol in the car before the crash.
On April 19, 2025, at approximately 9:03 p.m., Brian August was driving a 2023 Bentley eastbound on Sunrise Highway in Massapequa. He was stopped at a red light in the left turning lane of Sunrise Highway and Unqua Road when he abruptly turned to the right across the eastbound lanes of traffic and struck 48-year-old Willie Singleton’s Polaris Slingshot, driven by Singleton with his wife in the passenger seat, that was traveling in the eastbound lanes.
Singleton was ejected from the Polaris into another car parked at a red light near Unqua Road. He was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at approximately 9:46 p.m.
Singleton’s wife suffered significant injuries to her hips and legs, which required emergency surgery. The victim had a rod implanted into her leg and frequently must use a wheelchair or walker.
Blood drawn from August, approximately four hours after the crash, revealed a Blood Alcohol Content of .20%. A subsequent investigation revealed the defendant drank multiple shots of vodka inside the Bentley before the fatal crash.
A 1.75-liter bottle of vodka, in addition to numerous empty 50-milliliter bottles of vodka, was recovered from the vehicle.
Brian Kitchen, August’s father, served his son, who was 19 years old at the time of the crash, some of the liquor he had consumed in the vehicle before the fatal crash.
August was arrested on April 19, 2025, by members of the Nassau County Police Department. Kitchen was arrested on October 22, 2025, by members of the NCPD.
August, 20, pleaded guilty today before Judge Terence P. Murphy to Aggravated Vehicular Homicide (a Class B felony); Manslaughter in the Second Degree (a Class C felony); Assault in the Second Degree (a Class D violent felony); and Aggravated Driving While Intoxicated Per Se (an unclassified misdemeanor).
Kitchen, 43, pleaded guilty to one count of Reckless Endangerment in the First Degree (a Class D felony).
“As a parent, it is inconceivable to me that a father could be so reckless and careless as to pour and serve his underage, teenage son shots of liquor while driving. Make no mistake, Brian August made the decision to drive drunk and was behind the wheel when he struck and killed Willie Singleton, but his father, Brian Kitchen, also failed his son and the Singletons that night,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly. “Now both father and son will be heading to jail for their selfish and reckless choices as Willie’s wife, also seriously injured in the crash, continues to suffer the pain of losing her husband in one sudden, horrific moment.”
August is due back in court on September 24, 2026, and is expected to be sentenced to four-and-a-half to 12 years in prison. NCDA recommended a sentence of seven to 15 years in prison.
Kitchen is due back in court on September 24, 2026, and is expected to be sentenced to one year’s incarceration.