Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced that a Bronx man has been sentenced to four to 12 years in prison in connection with a fatal 2021 crash in Sunset Park. The defendant sped through a red light, struck another vehicle and attempted to flee the scene.
“By refusing to stop for police and speeding through one red light after another, this defendant caused a devastating crash that stole the life of James Lopez, an innocent man simply driving lawfully through an intersection,” Gonzalez said.
The DA identified the defendant as Elvis Nolasco, 28, of the Bronx. He was sentenced by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Kim Petersen to an indeterminate term of four to 12 years in prison. The defendant pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon on July 31, 2025.
According to the evidence, on Oct. 17, 2021, at approximately 4:25 a.m., the defendant was driving a white Mercedes southbound on Third Avenue in Sunset Park at a high rate of speed. NYPD officers attempted to pull over the defendant, who refused to stop and accelerated. The pursuing officer’s speedometer reached 80 miles per hour as the defendant ran through multiple red lights.
At the intersection of 60th Street, the defendant sped through another red light and T-boned a Nissan Altima driven by James Lopez, 42, who was lawfully proceeding through the intersection. Mr. Lopez was taken to NYU Langone Hospital–Brooklyn, where he died.
The defendant attempted to flee the scene on foot but was apprehended nearby, hiding under a parked car. A subsequent investigation revealed that the defendant was driving with a suspended license.
The defendant was arrested on April 18, 2023, following an investigation led by the NYPD’s Collision Investigation Squad.
The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Danyelle Shapiro and Assistant District Attorney Bianca Kushner of the District Attorney’s Green Zone Trial Bureau, under the supervision of Chief of the Street Safety Bureau Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Nocella and Chief of the Green Zone Assistant District Attorney Frank DeGaetano.
