A Far Rockaway man is heading to prison after pleading guilty to vehicular homicide charges in a crash that killed one of his neighbors.
Nicholas Thompson, 36, of Redfern Avenue, was sentenced to up to 17 years behind bars after he admitted to driving drunk last year, hitting speeds up to 97 mph, before crashing his car killing a 32-year-old woman who was in the passenger seat.
Thompson pleaded guilty last month to aggravated vehicular homicide before Queens Supreme Court Justice Gene Lopez who ordered him to serve 8 ½ to 17 years in prison at his sentencing Thursday.
Thompson was driving a BMW eastbound on Rockaway Boulevard in excess of 90 miles per hour as he approached Brookville Boulevard at around 6:45 p.m.on Sept. 26, 2020, according to the charges. Moments later, Thompson lost control of the car and veered off the road at a speed of 97 mph and crashed through a metal fence, drove through a field and hit a thicket of trees at a speed of 74 mph.
When police arrived at the scene, Thompson was outside of the vehicle and informed the responding officers that his passenger was still inside the wrecked BMW. The 32-year-old victim, Jolena Favor of Far Rockaway, had severe head and body trauma. EMS personnel pronounced her dead at the scene of the crash, according to the charges.
Prosecutors said police at the scene noticed Thompson exhibiting signs of intoxication. He had bloodshot and watery eyes, slurred speech and smelled of alcohol. He refused to submit to a chemical test to determine his blood-alcohol level, however, a court-ordered blood test showed Thompson’s blood alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit, according to the charges.
In the course of their investigation, police also determined that Thompson’s driver’s license had previously been revoked based on multiple prior convictions for driving while intoxicated in Pennsylvania in March 2015.
“The defendant was both intoxicated and speeding, a deadly combination, when he crashed through a fence and slammed into a tree killing his passenger,” Katz said. “This selfish act of driving while drunk puts everyone on the road at risk. The sentence imposed by the court today punishes the defendant for the needless death of this woman.”
