Drunk Driver Sentenced for Killing Passenger in High-Speed Crash

Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Keane announces that Alexander Kozak, 30, of Buffalo, was sentenced yesterday morning before Erie County Court Judge Suzanne Maxwell Barnes. Kozak received an indeterminate sentence of 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison.

On Saturday, July 20, 2024, at approximately 10:00 p.m., the defendant was driving a modified 1992 Honda Civic at a high rate of speed while under the influence of alcohol when he lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a tree on Arthur Street near Tonawanda Street in the City of Buffalo. The defendant was taken by ambulance to ECMC where he was treated for injuries. His front seat passenger, 30-year-old Sommer Lynn Toth, died at the scene.

Kozak pleaded guilty to one count of Vehicular Manslaughter in the Second Degree (Class D felony) and one count of Criminally Negligent Homicide (Class E felony). The defendant pleaded guilty, as charged, to both counts of the indictment on October 15, 2025. As a condition of his sentence, his New York State driver's license was revoked. If the driver's license is later reinstated, Judge Maxwell Barnes imposed a one-year interlock requirement.

DA Keane commends Officer Roscoe Henderson, Officer Mark Andrzejak and Officer Jason Heidinger of the Buffalo Police Department Accident Investigation Unit, New York State Department of Motor Vehicles and the New York State Department of Vehicle Safety for their work in this investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Christine O. Murray and Mitchell T. Schoellkopf of the Vehicular Crimes Bureau as well as Chief Paul J. Glascott of the Justice Courts Bureau.