NYPD says driver lost control before striking scaffolding, bus stop and mailbox on East 42nd Street.
A passenger was killed and the driver critically injured after a gray 2024 Tesla Model Y crashed into scaffolding and street fixtures on East 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan early Wednesday, September 9, 2026, according to the NYPD. Police said the crash occurred at approximately 2:43 a.m. when the vehicle, traveling eastbound, first struck a sidewalk shed outside 315 Madison Avenue before continuing several blocks and hitting a bus stop pole and a mailbox, finally coming to rest near East 42nd Street and Second Avenue, ABC7 New York and Fox 5 New York reported.
Victims and Vehicle Details
Both occupants were 27-year-old women, according to NYPD and multiple outlets. The passenger was transported to Bellevue Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, police said. The driver was hospitalized in critical but stable condition and later taken into custody. ABC7 New York identified the driver as Alejandra Paharsingh and the passenger as Elise Suomi, though other outlets, including ABC News and Fox 5, did not name either woman. ABC News reported the vehicle was being operated manually at the time of the crash, with no indication that Tesla's automated driving systems were engaged.
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Charges and Ongoing Investigation
The driver faces charges of vehicular manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, and driving while impaired, according to ABC7 New York and an ABC News social media post. Police have not disclosed what caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle, and the cause remains under investigation by the NYPD's Highway District Collision Investigation Squad, according to ABC News and Fox 5 New York. No details on arraignment, bail or a court date have been released.
ABC7 New York reported investigators spent the morning examining wreckage and reviewing traffic camera footage showing the heavily damaged Tesla at its final resting point. Some outlets have described the crash as alcohol-related and characterized the victim as the driver's close friend, though these details are framing from secondary reporting rather than confirmed NYPD statements. The incident follows a separate fatal Tesla crash on the FDR Drive in February 2025, though authorities have drawn no investigative connection between the two cases.
