Driver accused of killing pedestrian while high involved in another crash just before
A Brooklyn motorist allegedly high when he killed a pedestrian in Greenburgh late last month had been involved in another accident less than a mile away a short time earlier – but Scarsdale police let him go without detecting any impairment or learning that he was wanted in Pennsylvania.
The timing raises questions about the Scarsdale rookie police officer’s August 26 interaction with Antonio Robles-Sanchez less than 45 minutes before his Dodge pickup jumped the curb on East Hartsdale Avenue in Greenburgh and killed 65-year-old Stephanie Kavourias, a former director of the Hartsdale Public Parking District.
According to Scarsdale police documents, Officer Ainsley Brown helped Robles-Sanchez and the other motorist, coincidentally a neighbor of Kavourias’, exchange information after their minor accident at Mamaroneck and Post roads near the driveway to Scarsdale Police Headquarters.
The accident occurred just after 10:25 am when Robles-Sanchez, northbound on Post Road, turned east onto Mamaroneck Road and struck the other car as it was waiting to turn from Mamaroneck to Post. Brown arrived and since there were no injuries and minor damage and the accident was blocking the intersection, he had the two motorists drive into the police parking lot to exchange their information .
It's not clear how long Robles-Sanchez was kept at the scene, how much contact he had with the officer, when he was cleared to drive off or whether police ran a check on his license. Brown was the only officer to interact with them. A lieutenant was inside headquarters manning the desk.
Police Chief Andrew Matturo declined to discuss specifics of the case Tuesday, citing an internal investigation into the incident. He did say that there were circumstances with minor accidents where a police officer would only facilitate the exchange of information and not run a license check.
Headquarters is at the corner of Fenimore and Post roads and Fenimore takes drivers west over the Bronx River Parkway into Greenburgh, where it becomes East Hartsdale Avenue. Although Robles-Sanchez had been headed east at the time of the first accident, he headed west from headquarters into Greenburgh. It was there just before 11:15 that his truck went onto the sidewalk at Rockledge Road and plowed into Kavourias as she was walking towards the intersection.
Police responded and paramedics performed CPR before Kavourias was transported to White Plains Hospital Center, where she was pronounced dead less than an hour later.
Robles drove off, but one of the truck’s license plates had come off and police included it as they put out a description of the van. A short time later, White Plains police spotted the truck outside the Westchester County Center at the end of Central Avenue two and a half miles from the accident scene. Robles-Sanchez was slumped over the wheel and was taken into custody.
According to police, loose pills were observed in the car and he later told them he had taken a speedball - heroin and cocaine. Robles-Sanchez is facing felony charges of vehicular manslaughter and leaving the scene of a fatal accident and remains at the Westchester County jail.
A license check also discovered that he was wanted in Pennsylvania. According to Bucks County records there, Robles-Sanchez was arrested in November 2018 when 178 pills containing oxycodone were found in his car after a traffic stop by state police.
He attended his first few court hearings but a warrant was issued for his arrest when he didn’t show up for his trial the following year, a spokesman for the Bucks County District Attorney's Office said.
The warrant indicates the charge was a misdemeanor but that Pennsylvania authorities would execute it if Robles-Sanchez was picked up in a neighboring state.
Kavourias, a longtime resident of East Hartsdale Avenue, had worked for Greenburgh before becoming director of the parking district. She had also served as a member of the town Planning Board, headed her co-op board and was a board member of the Greenburgh Public Library and the Lois Bronz Childrens Center in Fairview.
A vigil in her memory is scheduled for 8 p.m. Tuesday night near the spot where she was killed. That will follow a 6 p.m. Town Hall meeting to discuss traffic safety issues related to East Hartsdale Avenue. Those wishing to speak at the meeting, in person or via zoom, should email PublicComment@GreenburghNY.com
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Alleged high fatal hit and run driver let go after other crash before
