Prison For Driver In DWI Crash That Pinned Baby Girl Under Car

YONKERS, NY — The driver responsible for the crash that shocked the Hudson Valley and drew worldwide headlines will be going to prison, though not for as long as prosecutors hoped.

Westchester County District Attorney Miriam Rocah 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 was sentenced on Tuesday to an indeterminate term of two and a half to seven and a half years in state prison after his plea of guilty to felony aggravated vehicular assault. The 44-year-old also pled guilty to driving while intoxicated, driving while ability impaired by the combined influence of drugs or of alcohol and aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.

The District Attorney’s Office had requested that the court impose a sentence of 4 to 12 years in state prison.

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"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," 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.”

On July 23, 2021, at approximately 8:25 a.m., Poncurak hit a mother who was carrying her infant child with his car. Both victims were thrown onto the hood of the car, which Poncurak then crashed through the storefront of a barbershop on Lake Avenue in Yonkers. 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. Poncurak had a blood alcohol content of 0.13 and illegal narcotics in his system at the time of the collision.

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.