A Stony Point man who has previously been convicted of drunk driving has been indicted by a Rockland County grand jury in New City on a series of charges stemming from a head-on crash on Route 9W in which another driver was seriously injured.
Among the charges against him, Michael Coyle, 45, of 156 N. Liberty Circle, Stony Point, is accued of circumventing a vehicle ignition device that is designed to prevent drivers from operating a vehicle while they are intoxicated. Coyle was convicted of driving while intoxicated in 2012 in Clarkstown.
The new indictments stem from an incident at about 5 p.m. on Feb. 22 in which District Attorney Thomas Zugibe said Coyle was driving at a high rate of speed on Route 9W, crossing over the double yellow traffic lane markers to pass vehicles ahead of him.
Coyle crashed head-on into a car coming from the opposite direction.
Police investigating the crash found that Coyle was intoxicated, with a blood alcohol content of .18 percent - more than twice the legal limit.
In addition to the charge of circumventing the ignition locking device, the grand jury indicted Coyle on charges of:
- First-degree assault
- Aggravated vehicular assault
- First-degree vehicular assault
- Aggravated driving while intoxicated, a felony
- Driving while intoxicated, a felony
- First-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.
- Reckless driving.
Alysoun J. Sherwood, 48, of Higland Falls, was injured in the crash and initially taken to Nyack Hospital and was later taken to Westchester County Medical Center for treatment. She is facing an extensive recovery period from her injuries.
Sherwood is the daugther of former state Supreme Court Judge William Sherwood and Susan Sherwood, who is Rockland County Social Services commissioner.
The serious accident required an investigation by the Stony Point Police accident reconstruction team, with assistance at the scene of the crash from the Rockland County Sheriff's Department Bureau of Criminal Identification, the New York State Police, members of Rockland Paramedics, volunteers of the Stony Point Fire Department and volunteers of the Stony Point Ambulance Corps.
