New York driver evading police dies, kills 4 teenagers in fiery crash that split vehicle in half
YONKERS, N.Y. – Five people are dead, including four teenagers ejected from their vehicle, after a driver evading police struck their car, splitting it in half and prompting a meteoric explosion late Tuesday in Yonkers, New York.
Officials told News 12 that officers spotted Devon Haywood, 36, of Mount Vernon driving erratically at around 9:23 p.m. and tried to pull the 2009 Infiniti sedan over. Haywood sped off, however, and minutes later slammed into a 2006 Nissan sedan, ejecting the four 18-year-old occupants.
The teenage victims have been identified as Brandon Sierra, Randy Brisbane, Tamari Watkins, and Anthony Cruz, all four of whom graduated from high school this past spring. All four died at the scene, and Haywood died a short while later at an area hospital, the TV station reported.
Surveillance video shows a car “streaking across the avenue like a comet” and then bursting into flames as it collided with the Nissan, splitting it in half, The New York Times reported.
“This unthinkable tragedy, the loss of four young people with their lives ahead of them, breaks our hearts,” Edwin M. Quezada, superintendent of the Yonkers Public Schools, said in a prepared statement.
According to court records, Haywood pleaded guilty in 2018 to a felony drug possession charge after police found him hiding a bag of cocaine in his sock. He also served time in federal prison after pleading guilty to selling five grams of crack cocaine in 2005, the Times reported.
Meanwhile, a document filed by his parole officer stated that Haywood was shot eight times while walking out of a store, following his 2011 release from prison.
In a statement, Yonkers Mayor Mike Spano said the “recklessness of one individual” cut short four young lives.
“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,” Spano stated.
Yonkers police told News 12 that officers, who arrived at the crash scene roughly 15 seconds after the explosion, were not engaged in a high-speed pursuit with Haywood at the time of the crash and had disengaged in hope of “avoiding this exact type of outcome.”
