Lawsuit Filed Over Hit-and-run Death of Nicki Minaj’s Father

Rapper Nicki Minaj – of Indian and Trinidadian origin – attends the Marc Jacobs Fall 2020 runway show during New York Fashion Week Feb.12, 2020 in New York City. (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Marc Jacobs)

Associated Press

MINEOLA, N.Y. — Rapper Nicki Minaj’s mother, Carol Maraj, has filed a $150 million lawsuit against the man who is accused of killing Minaj’s father – who was of Indian and Trinidadian origin – in a hit-and-run crash last month, an attorney for Maraj said.

Charles Polevich, 70, is accused of striking Robert Maraj, 64, on Long Island on Feb. 12 and then driving off without calling 911. Maraj died at a hospital the next day.

Polevich was arrested on Feb. 17 on charges of leaving the scene of an incident and tampering with physical evidence. He pleaded not guilty and was freed on bail and ordered not to leave New York state.

Newsday reports that Carol Maraj’s lawsuit, filed in Nassau County state Supreme Court earlier this month, claims that Polevich was negligent, reckless and careless when he hit Maraj with his car and allegedly left him at the scene.

“He was not only irresponsible and negligent, but more concerned about running away and hiding than seeking help,” Benjamin Crump, one of the attorneys representing Carol Maraj, said in an Instagram post March 19.

A telephone message was left March 21 with Polevich’s attorney, listed in online court records as Marc Gann of Mineola.

Nicki Minaj, who was born Onika Tanya Maraj, has not made any public statement on her father’s death.

Carol Maraj, the victim’s estranged wife, told Newsday last month that she was “very, very, very happy” about Polevich’s arrest and said all of Maraj’s children “are pleased” that the alleged culprit was caught.