A Mount Pleasant police pursuit that began around 4 a.m. Friday ended with a red Toyota Supra slamming into a tree near the intersection of Route 9A and North State Road in Briarcliff Manor, killing both people inside. Ryan Herrera, a 20-year-old Yonkers resident, and Jaden D. Sanabria, a 21-year-old Bronx resident, were pronounced dead at Westchester Medical Center after officers found them unresponsive in the wreckage, along with two stolen semi-automatic pistols recovered from the car.
According to News12 Hudson Valley, the encounter started when a patrol officer spotted the Supra traveling around 100 mph on Route 9 in Mount Pleasant and turned on emergency lights. The car took off rather than stopping, and the officer attempted to catch up as the Supra reached speeds up to 134 mph, according to the outlet, blowing past 100 mph multiple times during the early-morning chase. The Supra had no front license plate, and its rear plate had reportedly been removed before the crash.
As the Supra approached the Route 9A and North State Road intersection, the pursuing officer lost sight of it. The officer then pulled onto Route 9A and spotted vehicle headlights shining in the brush near the Route 100 northbound entrance ramp, at which point the officer realized the Toyota had crashed and requested medical assistance and backup, per the same account.
Officers Find Guns, No IDs at the Scene
When officers reached the heavily damaged car, they saw Herrera in the driver's seat and Sanabria lying across the front console. A gun was found between Herrera's legs, and a backup officer spotted a second pistol next to Sanabria's hand; officers secured both weapons. The outlet's report notes the Supra had extremely dark window tints, and both men were wearing balaclava coverings on their faces and were not wearing seatbelts.
Neither Herrera nor Sanabria was carrying personal identification, the report states. Paramedics rushed both men to Westchester Medical Center, where they later died, while heavy damage to the vehicle complicated rescue efforts at the scene. Police told the outlet that had they survived, Herrera would have faced charges including unlawful fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle, reckless driving, and unlicensed operation of a vehicle, while both men would have faced criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of stolen property. Investigators also learned the Toyota had been rented through a social media platform, and the renter allowed investigators to access the car's GPS data.
State Investigators Take Over the Case
Mount Pleasant Police Chief Paul Oliva confirmed that the department immediately notified the New York State Attorney General's Office of Special Investigations following the crash, prompting an OSI investigator to respond directly to the scene, according to a statement posted by the Town of Mount Pleasant. That notification isn't optional. Under New York Executive Law Section 70-b, enacted in April 2021, OSI is legally mandated to investigate any incident in which a law enforcement officer may have caused a civilian death by act or omission, regardless of whether the person who died was armed or in custody, according to the New York Attorney General's office.
The charges police said Herrera and Sanabria would have faced carry real weight under state law. Unlawful fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle in the third degree is a Class A misdemeanor once a driver exceeds the speed limit by more than 25 mph or drives recklessly while eluding a marked patrol car, per the New York State Senate. Possessing a loaded, illegal firearm outside one's home is Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, a Class C felony that carries mandatory state prison time under New York Penal Law.
A Notoriously Dangerous Stretch of Road
The crash unfolded on a corridor Hudson Valley officials have flagged for years. In May 2024, the New York State Department of Transportation set aside $20 million for a first phase of modernization on Route 9A through Briarcliff Manor and Mount Pleasant to fix narrow shoulders and outdated 1930s-era parkway geometry, according to the New York State Senate. Engineering studies conducted for the state show the 2.5-mile stretch through Briarcliff Manor and adjacent Mount Pleasant averages more than 120 motor vehicle crashes a year, as reported by River Journal Online.
Friday's chase also fits into a troubling national pattern. A 2026 study analyzing NHTSA data from 2009 to 2023 found police pursuits caused 6,352 fatalities across 5,425 fatal crashes nationwide, with 57% happening in urban settings and 70% at night, according to research published on PubMed. Separately, NHTSA data for 2024 shows speeding factored into 29% of all U.S. traffic fatalities, and half of speeding drivers killed in crashes were not wearing seatbelts — a detail that echoes the fact that Herrera and Sanabria were also unbelted when the Supra hit the tree.
A Department Under a Statewide Spotlight
Chief Oliva's department has been in the news before this crash. Oliva was sworn in as president of the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police in July 2025, leading the statewide organization 45 years after his own father held the same post, according to Westfair Online. In 2024, the department also secured a $545,000 state technology grant to install mobile car computers, traffic cameras, and updated patrol equipment across the town, per the Town of Mount Pleasant.
This is not the first high-speed chase Hoodline has covered in the area this year. In May, a Bronx driver's pursuit that began on the Saw Mill River Parkway also ended in Mount Pleasant, injuring three officers. How the Supra was rented through a social media platform, where the two stolen pistols originated, and whether Mount Pleasant's pursuit policy allows high-speed chases for non-violent traffic stops at 4 a.m. remain open questions that the Attorney General's Office of Special Investigations will now examine as it determines whether police tactics contributed to the fatal outcome.
