The surveillance video reveals a car that streaked throughout the avenue like a comet and then burst into flames as it crashed with an oncoming sedan, splitting it cleanly in half.
In the sedan, there were four 18-year-old men. They were recent high school graduates and residents of Yonkers, in Westchester County, where the crash occurred on Tuesday. All four were declared dead at the scene, Yonkers police officials said. The driver of the speeding car, a 36-year-old man, was extricated from his 2009 Infiniti and transported to a trauma center, where he died from his injuries.
Shortly before the crash, the police had seen the 2009 Infiniti, which was moving in the area of South Broadway and Prospect Street in Yonkers, and attempted to stop it in front of Riverdale Avenue as it was being driven erratically. The driver briefly pulled over, but then immediately accelerated “beyond reckless speeds” on the avenue as it approached the intersection at Culver Street, according to the police said.
At the same time, a silver Nissan, occupied by the four young men, was moving into the intersection. The speeding car crashed with the Nissan, “resulting in catastrophic damage to both vehicles,” a statement from the police, adding: “The force of the impact split the Nissan in half.”
The police identified the four young men in the Nissan as Brandon Sierra, Randy Brisbane, and Tamari Watkins, who graduated from Saunders Trades and Technical High School in Yonkers in June, and Anthony Cruz, a recent graduate of Riverside High School in Yonkers. The driver of the Infiniti was identified as Devon Haywood of Mount Vernon, New York.
The speeding driver, Mr. Haywood, had a criminal record. In 2018, he pleaded guilty to a felony drug possession charge after police found that he was hiding a bag of cocaine in his sock, according to court records. He was sentenced to a year in the Westchester County jail.
Mr. Haywood also served time in federal prison after pleading guilty to selling five grams of crack cocaine in 2005, court records reveal.
After his release, in 2011, he had been shot eight times while walking out of a store, according to a document filed by his probation officer. “He has almost fully recovered and he has a bullet still lodged in his face and two in his leg,” the official wrote.
Mayor Mike Spano of Yonkers said the accident was a reminder of the dangers of speeding.
“Four young lives were cut short by the recklessness of one individual,” he said in a statement. “Let this be a lesson to all who drive at excessive speeds — it not only puts your life at risk but also the innocent lives with whom you share the road.”
