Dobbs Ferry(Saw Mill Pkwy)-Fatal DWI MVA-9-18-06

[Guest]

[attachmentid=1223]

Girl, 15, killed in wrong-way auto accident on Saw Mill

By WILL DAVID

THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original Publication: September 18, 2006)

The Saw Mill River Parkway is closed southbound this morning from Route 119 in Greenburgh past Ashford Avenue because of the investigation into the 5 a.m. fatal accident near Ashford Avenue. One northbound lane is also closed.

The entrance to the southbound parkway from Interstate 87 is also closed. The closing is expected to last for several hours.

DOBBS FERRY — A 15-year-old girl was killed this morning when the drunken driver of the car she was in went the wrong way on the Saw Mill River Parkway in Dobbs Ferry and struck another car, police said. A Yorktown woman was arrested.

Westchester County police arrested 46-year-old Ann Marie Ciarcia of 2451 Mohansic Ave. in Yorktown. Ciarcia was driving the car that the teen died in.

Ciarcia's own 15-year-old daughter and the deceased girl, her child's friend, were passengers in the car.

Police did not immediately release the dead girl's name or her hometown. The girl was pronounced dead at the scene after the 5 a.m. accident.

Ciarcia was taken to the Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla for treatment. Ciarcia's 15-year-old daughter is said to be in good condition.

Lt. Michael Palumbo of the Westchester County police gave this account:

Ciarcia was driving a 2006 Honda when she turned from Ashford Avenue onto the parkway going north in the southbound lane.

The car struck a Honda driven by Ed Cook, 49, of 3650 Dalewood Court in Yorktown. Cook was driving south on the parkway.

Cook was extricated from his vehicle around 5:30 a.m. and rushed to the Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla.

Ann Marie Ciarcia failed an alcohol field sobriety test and was arrested, Lt. Michael Palumbo of the county police said.

She is charged so far with driving while intoxicated and going to wrong way on a parkway. Prosecutors and police will contemplate homicide charges later.

Irvington, Dobbs Ferry and Elmsford police were assisting the county police with traffic.

Edited September 19, 2006 by hoss

[DMA327 12]

Send that lady straight to death row. Put her at the top of the list! People like that should not be out on the streets harming others and putting other children in danger!

[BedfordFire 7]

Its been a bad few days for those at Yorktown High School....

[Truck4 48]

The 46-year old "mother" took her underage daughter clubbing in Manhattan near NYU and DWI'd her and her friend home. The woman had a MySpace page where she called herself "RoccerMom123" and told all about how she partied with her kid. It has since been removed.

[AFD-PM 0]

My question about the whole incident is why is yonkers being called up to help. You have 3 other fire departments in this area who are here to help. Another question is, who has control at those scenes does the P.D. or the F.D.?

[Truck4 48]

YPD ESU was requested to assist by the WCPD after the Yonkers car called the accident in. ESU responded to assist, not to take anything away from any fire department. All appropriate angencies were notified at inception.

[Guest]

[attachmentid=1224]

credit: Journal News

What a senseless tragedy....

Yorktown student, 16, killed in crash

By JORGE FITZ-GIBBON,

SHAWN COHEN AND WILL DAVID

(Original Publication: September 19, 2006)

DOBBS FERRY — A Yorktown woman's drunken night of clubbing with her 15-year-old daughter and another girl ended in a deadly wrong-way collision on the Saw Mill River Parkway, killing her daughter's friend hours before the teens were due at school, authorities say.

Ann Marie Ciarcia, 46, the wife of former Yorktown town engineer Daniel Ciarcia, was charged with driving while intoxicated and vehicular manslaughter, a felony, in the 4:55 a.m. crash yesterday that also left her, her daughter Alexa and another motorist injured, Westchester County police said.

Yorktown High School sophomore Emily Cornish, 16, was pronounced dead at the scene about 200 feet south of Cyrus Field Road in Dobbs Ferry.

Ciarcia "admitted to drinking alcohol during the hours leading up to the crash," according to a felony complaint filed last night.

Ciarcia and the two girls were returning home from the Continental Club in Manhattan's East Village, where they celebrated the club's final night. The bash featured a punk rock tribute to the New York City band The Ramones.

On her myspace.com home page, Ann Marie Ciarcia pays homage to the now-defunct group as well as numerous other punk bands, and lists "nightclubbing" as one of her interests. Most of the myspace users listed as her "friends" on the social networking Internet site are teenagers, among them Cornish.

In one entry, Ciarcia wrote, "So you see kids, why it's so important to stay in school, so you too can use all your talents raising your own and everyone else's kids here in the suburbia, while clubbing in Manhattan at night and wasting your time on myspace....(just kidding ... )"

Ciarcia and her daughter had traveled Sunday to Manhattan, where they later met up with Cornish. Classmates said Cornish had been with classmates at a Save Darfur rally in Manhattan, where they were accompanied by Yorktown High School social studies teacher Stephen Rome.

Cornish met up with Ann Marie and Alexa Ciarcia, ultimately ending up at the club.

After their night out in the city, police said, Ciarcia and the girls stopped at a diner near the Saw Mill before getting back onto the parkway at Ashford Avenue to head north.

But police said Ciarcia drove her 2006 Honda Odyssey the wrong way into the southbound lanes, and collided head-on with a 1994 Honda Accord driven by Ed Cook, 49, of Yorktown.

Cook was extricated from the vehicle about 5:30 a.m. and was taken to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, where he was listed yesterday in stable condition.

Ciarcia and her daughter, who were wearing seat belts, were in the front seat of the Odyssey. Cornish, who was a passenger in the rear, was not, police said.

Ciarcia wore laceless sneakers and a hospital gown as she was arraigned in Dobbs Ferry Village Court last night, weeping frequently and complaining of pain from the crash.

Her husband watched from the third row, frequently removing his glasses and wiping his brow. Assistant District Attorney Christine O'Connor asked for $100,000 bail.

"She admitted drinking throughout the night in the hours leading up to the crash," the prosecutor told Village Justice Steven Grant. She was ordered held on $75,000 bail and faces a maximum of seven years in prison if convicted of all charges.

Afterward, the couple were allowed to speak with each other before she was taken to the hospital ward at the county jail.

Her lawyer, Marvin Raskin, said the Ciarcias extend their condolences to Cornish's family. He said his client was "feeling very upset" about what happened.

"Clearly, Mrs. Ciarcia is a responsible (woman) who exercised poor judgment one evening of her life," he said. "She will be responsible to remember that for the rest of her life."

Daniel Ciarcia would not talk about the case but called the crash a tragedy.

"Emily was like a daughter to us. We were very close. She vacationed with us," he said. "We need to speak to (her parents) personally."

The victim's family declined to comment yesterday as family members gathered in Yorktown Heights.

On her myspace site, Ciarcia uses the screen name "Roccermom," and describes herself as a "proud parent" who is "in a relationship." She lists Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and U2 singer Bono as heroes. The couple have three other daughters.

Daniel Ciarcia now works for Ralph Mastromonaco Consulting Engineers in Croton-on-Hudson, where owner Ralph Mastromonaco said Ciarcia called in earlier in the day to say he was dealing with the aftermath of the crash.

"It's a tragedy," Mastromonaco said.

Yorktown Supervisor Linda Cooper said she knew both Daniel and Ann Marie Ciarcia , whom she called "lovely people."

"Our hearts go out to both Ann Marie and Dan, and the family of the girl, Emily Cornish, in this very tragic situation," Cooper said.

The supervisor said yesterday's crash, which came little more than a day after the fatal stabbing of 16-year-old Elsa Camacho of Yorktown during a fight Saturday night, had left the town's teens reeling from an unprecedented amount of grief.

"As a parent and a community leader, you never want to see these kinds of things happen," Cooper said.

Cornish's classmates learned of her death in class yesterday. Friends also flocked to her own myspace home page, posting memorial messages that included "rest in peace emily" and "u were such an amazing person."

Roccermom is listed first among her friends.

Cornish was described by friends yesterday as a colorful girl who proudly wore clothes that made her stand out. She would wear oversized "Wonka-Vision" glasses, a skirt over her jeans, Converse All-Star sneakers or a raccoon hat, they said.

"She was always happy making people laugh," said classmate Jackie Ryan, 15. "She would just make fun of herself."

"She wouldn't care what anybody thought," added Katie Falcone, whose son, Nicholas, was in the 10th grade with Cornish. "She was just a unique girl, free-spirited. She put a spot in everybody's heart."

That the fatal crash involved a mother accused of being drunk made the death more difficult to deal with, Falcone said.

"We're their role models," she said. "It's an unfortunate lesson, to lose a friend over ignorance."

Funeral services for Cornish will be private. But visiting hours will be from 6 to 9 p.m. today at the Clark Funeral Home, 2104 Saw Mill River Road, Yorktown Heights.

Her family is asking that donations be made to Amnesty International.

Edited September 19, 2006 by hoss

[Guest DFFD227]

My question is, WHY the hell were two 15 y/o girls out that late on a school night??

[JohnnyOV 2]

Outstanding...its going to be a rough year or two now for my former high school.

[RWC130 594]

VERY SAD past couple days for Yorktown High School students and parents.

Ann Marie Ciarcia (The Drunk Mom) will have to live with the pain of

taking the life of a 16 y/o girl the rest of her life.

I hope she feels that pain from PRISON!!!!!!!

NOTE: WESTCHESTER COUNTY DA SHOW NO MERCY!

[mikelouf2 0]

That mother should be send to jail for life and that club in nyc should be close for good for leting 15 yrs old in i hope they take her kids away from her for good

i feel bad for the partents that lost there kid i hope they sue the sit out of the mother

[helicopper 1,050]

My question about the whole incident is why is yonkers being called up to help.  You have 3 other fire departments in this area who are here to help.  Another question is, who has control at those scenes does the P.D. or the F.D.?

←

If the job was called in by a Yonkers PD unit, the response of ESU is not surprising especially on the parkways where they can cover a lot of distance very quickly.

As for who's in "control"... Fatal accidents are criminal investigations and as such the police should be in overall command. That said, rescue and fire suppression operations would fall under the purview of the FD so unified command is definitely a good option. Once the victims are extricated and immediate hazards mitigated, there is going to be a long police investigation - as evidenced by traffic this morning!

Finally, I'd just like to echo the other statements here and hope that the DA does the right thing and accepts no plea bargains!

[grumpyff 1,159]

Fatal accidents and serious, likely to die both become crime scenes requiring an accident investigation, but yes I think a unified command would be appropriate. WCPD may have it was more appropriate to call in Yonkers ESU to assist with the crime scene investigation, after all this case will end up in court, requiring testimony from the officers involved at the scene.

As for the mother responsible for all of this, let her rot in a 4x6 cell. Wanna go 'clubbing'...I got a nice club for you ...whack you over the head with it. Westchester DA really needs to show no mercy, and investigate with the Manhattan DA how she got these two 15 year olds into a club.

Edited September 19, 2006 by grumpyff

[TimesUp 148]

My question about the whole incident is why is yonkers being called up to help.  You have 3 other fire departments in this area who are here to help.  Another question is, who has control at those scenes does the P.D. or the F.D.?

←

Is does'nt matter who was called, as long as there was'nt a delay in response. Not to mention the other reasons that have been mentioned in other posts.

Edited September 19, 2006 by ltrob

[Guest]

If this were her first dwi offense (the evidence seems to point away from that theory), she would have a mandatory fine of $500-1000 (plus $270 for a felony dwi) and six months license revocation. She could also be sentenced to a year in jail. That's simply for the first offense. Second and subsequent offenses are felonies. Also simply refusing a field sobriety test gets her 6 months license revocation and a $300 fine.

She'll likely also be charged with vehicular manslaughter/depraved indiference. Yes, this is a crime scene....

And how she could have "missed" the entry onto the Saw Mill from Ashford Avenue really took some doing.

http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/dmvfaqs.htm#dwi

[Stewie 1]

I heard that the wcpd officer requested yonkers esu to the scene to assist. I also heard that both esu and dffd worked hand in hand on this, so whats the big deal? as long as they don't drive up on every accident like they should be called to everything.

And what ever happened to wcpd esu truck that they used to have with extrication tools on it? did that just go by the wayside? (i know that was a long time ago)

[Guest TOYBUFF911]

Just to answer any questions about this incident. A Yonkers Police radio car transporting a prisoner to Valhalla stumbled across this accident and requested the appropriate local response and advised our dispatch that he needed a supervisor and another radio car, too transport his prisoner, due to the nature of injuries and the blind hill that the accident occurred on. It was after a YPD LT. arrived at scene from south Yonkers and one DOA was confirmed and multiple ambulance corps units and GPD paramedics operating that WCPD requested extrication and requested through our LT on scene for ESU's response. Both

E-Rigs responded from south Yonkers and got on scene at the same time as DFFD, but due to our preconnected Hurst setup, ESU was able to put thier tool into operation first, with DFFD backing up our tool if a failure. The extrication was a simple non complicated door removal, which took about 2 minutes and the patient was then removed and packaged by ESU and turned over to GPD medics. I know it is common for some on this site to try and start a FD VS PD rivalry, but we must remember that patient care is our primary responsibility. My view was that all agencies worked well together. Someone also brought up testimony at trial and they are right. It is easier to have the police testify at a trial. This incident will be a trial. To burden volunteer's with a week of lost wages at a trial, is a lot to ask. Volunteers sacrifice a lot of time in there communities and that time should be saved for emergencies not courtroom testimony. Good job to all that morning.

[JBE 328]

Well said.

[TRUCK6018 50]

Westchester DA really needs to show no mercy, and investigate with the Manhattan DA how she got these two 15 year olds into a club.

←

That's an easy one. Looking at the club's web site, that night's show's were all ages.

[CAM502 6]

For any who have never been to the Continental it is (was) a little hole in the wall rock venue, not a "club" like many would think. All ages shows happen all the time at venue like this. Don't think they are to blame this time.