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Yonkers resident David Poncurak pleaded guilty in November 2021 to multiple charges after striking a mother and child with his car after crashing through the front window of an area barbershop earlier this year.
Specifically, Poncurak pleaded guilty to:
- Aggravated vehicular assault;
- Driving while intoxicated;
- Driving while ability impaired by the combined influence of drugs or alcohol;
- Aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.
On Tuesday, March 29, Poncurak was sentenced to a term of between two and a half and seven and a half years in prison, though he will be eligible for parole in less than half that time.
The DA had requested a sentence between four and 12 years in prison.
Westchester County District Attorney Mimi Rocah said that at approximately 8:30 a.m. on Friday, July 23, 2021, Poncurak was driving in Yonkers north on Morningside Avenue when he turned West onto Lake Avenue, lost control, hopped the curb, and drove through the front of a nearby barbershop.
The crash pinned both the mother and infant under the vehicle. Rocah said that members of the Yonkers Police Department, with the help of bystanders, immediately lifted the car off the victims, who both were injured.
Police said that the woman suffered serious injuries to her femur, and the baby suffered a fractured skull and third-degree burns to her back and foot. Both were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment and survived the injuries.
The owner of the barbershop also suffered a minor injury.
Rocah noted that at the time of the crash, Poncurak had a blood alcohol concentration above the legal limit and illegal narcotics in his system.
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," she continued. "We will continue to vigorously prosecute unlawful and dangerous drivers to keep Westchester’s roads safer for all.”
Poncurak had faced up to 15 years in state prison.
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