CATSKILL – A Coxsackie man was sentenced on Thursday to seven to 21 years in state prison for his conviction of aggravated vehicular homicide and 1 1/3 to four years for operating a motor vehicle under the combined influence of drugs and alcohol. Both sentences for John Peterson, 36, will run concurrently.
Peterson caused the death f Danielle McKenna, who was driving home from work on the evening of September 24, 2022.
Greene County District Attorney Joseph Stanzione said the case began in Stockport where concerned residents observed Peterson lying unconscious in a park. They contacted police who helped him regain consciousness, observed he was impaired. He admitted that he used drugs and alcohol.
Police then took him to Columbia Memorial Hospital in Hudson for treatment. When officers left, Peterson signed himself out without receiving treatment and got a ride back to his car.
The DA said he drove his car, while still impaired, over the Rip Van Winkle Bridge into Greene County.
Peterson’s car was captured on Bridge Authority video driving close to the rear of another vehicle, and then dropping back on several occasions as well as driving from side to side on the bridge.
Peterson made it to Route 9W northbound where one witness testified that his vehicle came up on his own with tremendous speed and then crossed a double solid line to pass.
That forced the driver of a southbound car to pull off the road to avoid a collision.
Witnesses said Peterson then crossed into the opposite lane of traffic and struck McKenna’s vehicle head on. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
DA Stanzione called the fatal crash “needless and senseless.”
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