Wrong-way Driver Who Killed Mount Kisco Woman Sentenced

BEDFORD, NY — The Armonk man who was accused of driving wrong way on I-684 killing a Mount Kisco woman will be going to prison.

Zachary Tokson, 24, of Seymour Lane, received an indeterminate sentence of three to nine years in state prison, Westchester County District Anthony A. Scarpino Jr. announced Thursday.

Tokson pleaded guilty in the death of Elena Lopez to the following:

• Aggravated Vehicular Homicide, felony.
• Second-degree manslaughter, felony.
• Second-degree vehicular, felony.

Tokson was driving a white Lexus SUV Dec. 13, 2015, around 5:49 a.m. northbound in the southbound lane of Interstate 684 in the Town of Bedford, police said.

At mile marker 16.8, Tokson collided head on with Elena Lopez of Mount Kisco who was driving a gray Ford Focus station wagon. She was killed instantly.

Tokson suffered a laceration over his right eye. His female passenger ended up with broken ribs, a dislocated femur and lacerations to her liver and spleen. She survived the crash.

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The police investigation found that Tokson had allegedly been drinking hours earlier in a Brewster bar.

He and his passenger left the bar and stopped for food and then proceeded south on I-684. They then stopped at the Bedford rest area to take a nap.

After waking, Tokson began driving the wrong way on I-684 for about 1.1 miles before the collision.

A search of his vehicle revealed a closed, empty bottle of whiskey and a mixed alcohol drink inside a closed soda bottle. Tokson had a blood alcohol content of 0.08 percent.

He was remanded to the custody of the New York State Department of Corrections.

Photo caption: Zachary Tokson. Photo credit: Westchester County District Attorney.