Drunk New York Man Pins Hudson Valley Mother, Infant With Car
A mother was hit by a drunk driver while crossing the street in the Hudson Valley. The car then crashed through a business with the mother and baby on the car's hood!
On Tuesday, Westchester County District Attorney announced the sentencing of a Yonkers man who, while intoxicated, hit a mother and her infant child with his car moments before he crashed through a Yonkers storefront and trapped both victims under the vehicle.
David Poncurak, 44, was sentenced to two to seven years in prison. The Westchester County resident pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular assault, a felony, DWI, driving while ability impaired by the combined influence of drugs or alcohol, and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, misdemeanors.
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On July 23, 2021, at approximately 8:25 a.m., Poncurak hit a mother with his car.
The mother was holding her infant child at the time Poncurak hit her with his car.
Members of the Yonkers Police Department responded to 124 Lake Avenue for a motor vehicle accident.
A man driving a 2005 Hyundai Elantra was traveling northbound on Morningside Avenue and turned westbound onto Lake Avenue.
While doing so, he struck a curb, a parked vehicle, two pedestrians, and then continued to accelerate into the storefront of a barbershop.
The mother and her child were thrown onto the hood of the car.
Poncurak then crashed through the storefront of a barbershop.
The crash trapped both victims under the vehicle, and Yonkers Police, with the help of bystanders, were able to lift the car off the victims.
A number of heroes saved the life of an 8-month-old girl who was pinned underneath a car.
Officers Fusco and Samoyedny were in a nearby bagel shop getting breakfast when they heard the collision and went to investigate and found a 36-year-old woman down in the wreckage of the crash inside the barbershop.
The officers quickly realized that in addition to the woman her 8-month old daughter was also injured and was trapped under the vehicle, police say.
"The officers with the help of bystanders heroically LIFTED THE VEHICLE off of the baby so she could be rescued and given medical aid," the Yonkers Police Department wrote in a press release.
Both victims were transported to Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx, where the mother underwent surgery for a fractured femur. The infant suffered a fractured skull and severe burns.
Poncurak had a blood alcohol content of .13 and illegal narcotics in his system at the time of the collision.
“David Poncurak recklessly got behind the wheel of his car after drinking heavily and using illegal narcotics and placed a mother and her daughter in extreme peril,” DA Rocah said. “I am thankful for the heroic actions of the Yonkers Police Department, the bystanders, and the ambulance crew. Because of them, the victims are alive and healing today. We will continue to vigorously prosecute unlawful and dangerous drivers to keep Westchester’s roads safer for all.”
Below is a video of this daring rescue. Police warn there are some graphic images