Drunk Tesla driver crashes into scaffolding, killing close friend in Manhattan

Manhattan prosecutors allege that Alejandra Paharsingh, 27, was heavily intoxicated, with a blood-alcohol concentration of.229, when she drove her 2024 Tesla onto the sidewalk on East 42nd Street shortly after 2:45 a.m. The vehicle struck a mailbox, collided with scaffolding, and continued a short distance before stopping at the intersection of 42nd Street and Second Avenue, where officers arrived. Passenger Elise Suomi, a Harlem resident and mother of a three-year-old, was rushed to Bellevue Hospital and died shortly after arrival.

Paharsingh, who suffered only minor injuries, told police she has no memory of the crash. She was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court, with Judge Jeffrey Gershuny setting bail at $50,000, and is being held on Rikers Island pending a Monday court appearance. A memorial with candles and photos has been placed outside Suomi’s Harlem apartment building.