Impaired driver in crash that killed Hartsdale activist Kavourias pleads guilty (2024)

A Brooklyn man high on drugs when he killed a beloved community activist in a Hartsdale crash, minutes after a rookie Scarsdale police officer let him go following a minor accident, pleaded guilty Thursday.

As the sisters and friends of the 65-year-old victim, Stephanie Kavourias, looked on in Westchester County Court, Antonio Robles-Sanchez, 43, admitted being high on Xanax when he crashed into Kavourias on Aug. 26, 2023, and then drove off.

He pleaded guilty to second-degree vehicular manslaughter, leaving the scene of a fatal accident, criminally negligent homicide and driving while ability impaired by drugs. Judge George Fufidio promised him a prison sentence of 1 1/3 to 4 years.

Debbie Kavourias said afterward that the guilty plea was little consolation for the heartache of losing her sister, who had retired as executive director of the Hartsdale Parking Authority and was a former member of the Greenburgh Planning Board.

"No amount of time would be good enough or bring her back," the Manhattan resident said. "Its been very hard for us ... We miss not being with her, sharing stuff with her, just seeing her."

Fatal crash happened minutes after first accident

The Journal News/lohud reported in November on the nearly 40 minutes that Robles-Sanchez spent with Scarsdale Police Officer Ainsley Brown after a minor accident at Route 22 and Mamaroneck Road less than a mile from the scene of the fatal crash.

Nobody was injured, and the drivers went to the parking lot of police headquarters across the street to exchange information and for Brown to check their license and insurance information. Brown failed to learn that there was an active warrant for Robles-Sanchez on a drug charge in Pennsylvania. And just before letting Robles-Sanchez go at 11:08 a.m., Brown noticed a single pill on the driver's seat. He had Robles-Sanchez read him the code on the pill, learned it was the drug Xanax, but never asked him if he had a prescription for it.

Robles-Sanchez then drove on Fenimore Road into Hartsdale and at 11:14 a.m. went through the intersection of East Hartsdale Avenue and Rockledge Road, onto the sidewalk and plowed into Kavourias, who had been walking toward the intersection.

Robles-Sanchez did not stop and continued west on East Hartsdale Avenue. Responding Greenburgh police officers found a license plate that had fallen off his Dodge Ram pickup, which was spotted by White Plains police a short time later parked near the Westchester County Center. Additional loose Xanax and Klonopin pills and cocaine were found in his car. Toxicology tests revealed he had Xanax in his system at the time of the crash and that he had used cocaine as recently as the day before.

Prosecutor called for maximum sentence

Assistant District Attorney Brian Bendish asked for the maximum sentence of 2 1/3 to 7 years in prison, arguing that the first accident was a "come to Jesus" moment that Robles-Sanchez should have recognized as a warning to stop driving that day. He said that Robles-Sanchez's decision to keep driving was an aggravating factor to his crimes that day and devastated Kavourias' family and community.

But Fufidio said he was swayed by mitigation presented by defense lawyer Robert Osuna, particularly that Robles-Sanchez had a limited criminal history and that his taking responsibility, avoiding a trial and waiving his appellate rights justified a break from the maximum sentence.

Osuna said afterwards that Robles-Sanchez had been taking Xanax as an epilepsy medication. He said his client had a young child and that he and his family were extremely remorseful about Kavourias' death.

The judge said state prison for someone who had never been there before was "not an easy task to shoulder" and there was no guarantee Robles-Sanchez would be released on parole once he had served the minimum 15 months.

Debbie Kavourias said the family was disappointed with the promised sentence but also feels the state Legislature must toughen penalties for vehicular manslaughter.

Robles-Sanchez was returned to the Westchester County Jail to await sentencing, which Fufidio scheduled for Sept. 12.

Kavourias remembered

Kavourias was a fixture on East Hartsdale Avenue. She headed her co-op board and was a board member of the Greenburgh Public Library and the Lois Bronz Daycare Center.

Her death has led to efforts to improve traffic safety on East Hartsdale Avenue, including the installation of a red-light camera at the intersection where she was killed. The building where she worked for years was named the Stephanie Kavourias Memorial Garage.

Brown, who had only been patrolling on his own for a few weeks at the time of the accident, was fired three months later. Kavourias' family on Thursday filed an expected lawsuit in state Supreme Court against Greenburgh, Scarsdale, Scarsdale police, Brown, Robles-Sanchez and the Bronx owner of the pickup truck. Greenburgh is accused of failing to properly maintain the intersection. Scarsdale police and Brown are faulted for their handling of the earlier accident and ignoring the risk Robles-Sanchez posed that morning.