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Firefighter Pleads Guilty In Fatal Wrong-Way White Plains Crash

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. -- White Plains firefighter Erik Refvik pleaded guilty Friday to vehicular homicide and other charges in an horrific crash that killed one person and seriously injured another, Westchester County District Attorney Janel DiFiore said.

White Plains firefighter Erik Refvik pleaded guilty Friday in a wrong-way crash that killed a woman and injured a man last November in White Plains.

White Plains firefighter Erik Refvik pleaded guilty Friday in a wrong-way crash that killed a woman and injured a man last November in White Plains.

Photo Credit: Westchester County District Attorney

The 16-count indictment, said DiFiore, included aggravated vehicular homicide, manslaughter, vehicular assault, aggravated driving while intoxicated, criminal possession of a controlled substance, driving while impaired by drugs, and several vehicle and traffic law infractions.

Refvik, 35, was intoxicated, drug impaired, and going 65 mph in a 30-mph zone when he drove his Chevrolet Tahoe the wrong way down South Lexington Avenue around 4:30 a.m. in the city on Nov. 3 last year, DiFiore said.

According to media reports at the time, he also tried to drive down the wrong way down Martine Avenue.

Refvik slammed head-on into a Honda Civic stopped at a traffic light, seriously injuring the driver, Edgar Lopez, 49, of Harrison, and killing his former wife, Reyda La Madrid, 47. They had been delivering newspapers, media reports said.

The force of the collision pushed the Honda nearly half a football field down the main thoroughfare.

Over a span of nearly 12 hours before the fatal crash, Refvik was seen on video drinking at a number of bars of Mamaroneck Avenue in downtown White Plains, DiFiore said. According to lohud.com, he had been spotted at The Brazen Fox, Hudson Grille, Copper Face Jacks, and Black Bear.

At the time of the collision, his blood alcohol content was .21, nearly three times the legal limit, experts determined. He also had cocaine, clonazepam, and bath salts in his system, DiFiore said. Bath salts are a synthetic drug which has a stimulant effect. Clonazepam is used to treat seizures.

Refvik, who grew up in Mahopac, was arrested at the Westchester Medical Center where he was taken for treatment after the crash.

Refvik now faces a minimum of one to three years to a maximum of 25 years in state prison, DiFiore said. He remains in custody until sentencing, which is set for Sept. 25.

Assistant District Attorney Michelle Lopez of the Superior Court Trial Division and Assistant District Attorney Jonathan Strongin are prosecuting the case.

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