A Tonawanda man is facing vehicular assault charges after police say his car left the road, struck a light pole, and then slammed into another vehicle on River Road, hospitalizing all three people inside it. Weeks later, one of those victims remains hospitalized with serious injuries.
Michael Kocic, identified by Yahoo News as 63 years old, was arrested Tuesday in connection with the October 6 crash. Newport Dispatch reports that Kocic was arrested and charged with aggravated vehicular assault, second-degree assault, and driving while ability impaired by drugs. A separate report from WIVB identifies the driver as 62 years old, so his exact age remains unclear amid the conflicting accounts.
Erratic Driving Preceded the Crash, Police Say
According to the Newport Dispatch report, police responded to a rollover crash report at River Road and Ward Road at approximately 10 a.m. on the morning of October 6. Investigators allege Kocic was driving a 2009 Chevrolet Malibu southbound on River Road erratically and at high speed before losing control of the vehicle.
The Malibu left the roadway and struck a light pole, then re-entered the road and struck a 2023 Honda Ridgeline that was also traveling southbound, according to the same Newport Dispatch account. WIVB's reporting corroborates that sequence, noting the Malibu re-entered the roadway after hitting the pole before colliding with the Ridgeline. The impact caused the Ridgeline to roll over several times, per Newport Dispatch.
Three Hospitalized, One Still Recovering
All three occupants of the Ridgeline were injured in the crash and taken to the hospital, Yahoo News reports. Weeks later, one of them remains hospitalized for what the North Tonawanda Police Department described in a statement, cited by Yahoo News, as “serious injuries.”
The North Tonawanda Fire Department and Twin City Ambulance both responded to the crash scene, according to Newport Dispatch. The North Tonawanda Police Department's Accident Investigation Team conducted the crash investigation, which included toxicology testing of Kocic's blood, per the same report.
Charges and Court Proceedings
Kocic was arraigned in North Tonawanda City Court following his arrest, Yahoo News reports. The outlet's account states he was charged with aggravated vehicular assault, assault, and driving while ability impaired by drugs, though the specific degree of the assault charge was reported separately by Newport Dispatch as second-degree assault.
Impairment-related crashes have drawn statewide scrutiny in recent years, even as the numbers have shifted. A fact sheet from the New York State Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research shows drug-related crashes accounted for 16% of New York traffic fatalities in 2024, down from 40% in 2020, though the same report cautions that 2024 fatality figures are likely undercounted due to less complete toxicology results. Serious injuries tied to drug-related crashes statewide fell to 245 in 2024 from 371 in 2020, according to the same source. None of this data establishes what role, if any, drugs played in the North Tonawanda crash.
Separately, statewide impaired-driving arrests dropped from 41,320 in 2018 to 29,561 in 2022, a 28.46% decline, while substance-related fatal and personal-injury crashes fell by 7.21% over the same period, per the Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research. The organization defines a drug-related driver as one who tested positive for drugs, received a drug-impaired-driving ticket, or had drugs listed as a contributing factor on a police accident report.
