A driver accused in a fatal wrong-way crash on the Hutchinson River Parkway in Westchester County was intoxicated and using a cellphone at the time of the crash, according to a criminal complaint.
Jose Ramon Espinal, 48, was arraigned Monday in Rye Town Court on charges of second-degree manslaughter and driving while intoxicated in connection with Sunday morning's fatal crash.
Espinal, of Bridgeport, is accused of hitting and killing a man on a motorbike while driving the wrong way in Rye Brook.
The victim's motorcycle burst into flames upon impact and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Espinal, who was also injured, was removed from the vehicle and taken to Westchester Medical Center, where he was released Sunday evening.
The wrong-way driver limped into court Monday, escorted by Westchester County police officers. The defendant cried at the defense table and never looked back at the victim's relatives watching from the gallery.
Police are waiting to hear from the county coroner to identify the victim, who is identified in the complaint as William Saleeby.
Espinal's legal aid attorney, Sydney Stanley, pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor drunk driving charge.
Juan Reyes, Espinal's friend and colleague, arrived late to support his colleague. I told Rohad He said he wasn't surprised to hear that Espinal had been crying throughout his court appearance.
“He's a really good guy and a hard-working guy,” Reyes said. “It's horrible that this happened.”
Both Espinal and Reyes work at the New York Athletic Club in Midtown Manhattan.
Reyes said he finished work Saturday afternoon, but Espinal wasn't scheduled to be at work until 10:30 p.m. Reyes said it's unclear what Espinal did after he finished work that night or what led to the accident a few hours later.
Sunday's wrong-way traffic accident was just the latest to occur in the New York metropolitan area in recent weeks.
On September 5th, a Long Island mother had her license suspended for the 57th time following a wrong-way driving accident in late August that killed her 9-year-old child.
On August 24, two men were killed in Harlem when a pickup truck drove at high speed on the wrong side of the highway.
