The Journal News: Man gets 2 years in prison for drunken crash that nearly severed teen’s leg
BY REBECCA BAKER AND LESLIE KORNGOLD • REBAKER@LOHUD.COM • JANUARY 9, 2010
WHITE PLAINS — Desmond Shand apologized to a Pelham teen today for nearly severing his leg during a drunken driving accident in 2008.
Shand, a 41-year-old Bronx resident, apologized moments before Westchester County Judge Robert DiBella sentenced him to two years in state prison for vehicular assault and other charges.
The sentence promise came after months of plea bargaining that ended when Shand pleaded guilty to the entire 11-count indictment against him Nov. 4.
He was charged with assault and vehicular assault, both felonies, and leaving the scene, driving while intoxicated, reckless endangerment and reckless driving, all misdemeanors. He also had several traffic violations.
It was an emotional morning that was bittersweet because there are no winners, said Lorena Kenny, mother of the injured teen. “We all come out hurting because of a bad choice,” she said.
Shand was in Pelham, fleeing an accident with a bicyclist Sept. 2, 2008, when he broadsided a Jeep driven by Hernan Kenny, a senior at Pelham Memorial High School at the time.
Hernan Kenny was in court Friday surrounded by his parents, sister, friends and Pelham Manor police. Assistant District Attorney Christina O’Connor read his victim’s impact statement to the court, highlighting how the accident forever changed the high school football player’s life and put his family under emotional and financial duress.
Kenny’s leg was partially amputated at the knee and he underwent more than a dozen operations to repair his shattered tibia from the accident at Plymouth Road and Townsend Avenue. The bicyclist was not badly injured.
Shand had a blood-alcohol level of 0.10 percent four hours after the accident; a sample was obtained at the hospital with a court order.
Kenny, now 19, is a freshman at Long Island University’s C.W. Post campus.
Shand was ordered to pay $1,874 for the damage he caused to the bicycle.
