1 charged in wrong-way, head-on crash on Henry Hudson Parkway

ByEyewitness News WABC logo
Thursday, June 9, 2016
1 dead in wrong-way crash on West Side Highway
A.J. Ross reports on a wrong-way crash in Manhattan that left a woman dead.

UPPER WEST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) -- A driver wanted for striking several parked vehicles crashed head-on into another vehicle in a wrong-way crash on the Henry Hudson Parkway late Tuesday, killing one and injuring three others.

Authorities said the driver of the stolen 2003 Dodge Caravan, who officers caught up with just before 11:45 p.m., had hit the cars on Eighth Avenue and West 17th Street in Chelsea earlier in the day.

The van was driven by a 23-year-old who was apparently trying to flee a police checkpoint when he entered the Henry Hudson Parkway traveling north in the southbound lanes and collided with a 2008 Subaru carrying four people near the 79th Street Boat Basin.

A 54-year-old woman identified as Olga Ilina, of Fair Lawn, was rushed to St. Luke's Hospital in critical condition and later died. The 53-year-old driver, Max Givotovsky, was listed in stable condition at St. Luke's, while the other two occupants suffered only minor injuries.

The two men in the Caravan were taken into custody. The 23-year-old driver was taken to St. Luke's Hospital, while a 34-year-old passenger was taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital Cornell. Both sustained non-life threatening injuries.

One of the men, Jean Herrera, of New York, is facing several charges including manslaughter, assault and reckless driving.

The Henry Hudson Parkway was closed for hours, but all lanes have since reopened.