A White Plains firefighter was sentenced Friday to a maximum of 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges accusing him of driving while intoxicated and causing a crash that killed a woman who was delivering newspapers.
Erik Refvik pleaded guilty to all the charges in a 16-count indictment prior to his sentencing, said Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore. The charges included manslaughter, DWI and reckless driving.
Refvik, an off-duty firefighter at the time, was driving an SUV at about 65 mph on Nov. 3 when it slammed into a car driven by Edgar Lopez, whose former wife, Reyda La Madrid, was in the back seat folding newspapers for delivery.
La Madrid was killed in the crash. Her former husband was seriously injured.
Refvik's Chevrolet Tahoe, which pushed the couple's car the length of a football field after the initial impact.
Refvik had been drinking for 12 hours before the crash and had gone to at least four bars, investigators said at the time. Refvik, a four-year veteran with the fire department, had a blood alcohol content of .21 at the time of the crash and had also consumed cocaine, bath salts and other drugs, police said.
