Thane Grauel, and James O'Rourke

DOBBS FERRY – A 21-year-old West Harrison man and aspiring New York state trooper died early Wednesday after apparently drag racing on the northbound Saw Mill River Parkway and driving off the Ashford Avenue bridge, police and relatives said.

Christopher Seguinot, a Westchester Community College and Harrison High School graduate who formerly lived in New Rochelle, died in the crash shortly after 12:10 a.m.

Seguinot studied criminal law in college and was on a waiting list to become a state trooper after earning a high score of 98 on the written exam, said a man who stood at the driveway gate to the family's West Harrison home Wednesday, greeting visitors who came to pay their respect.

The man, who identified himself only as Seguinot's uncle, John, said the family was asking for privacy from the media. Seguinot was never in trouble, and while he was a motorcycle and car enthusiast who was part of a "cruiser" club, he was never a part of any motorcycle club, the uncle said, declining to comment on the circumstances of Seguinot's crash.

"We're going by what (the county police) said," the uncle said. "We don't have the facts."

Westchester County Police Commissioner George Longworth said a county police officer was on a Saw Mill patrol in Hastings when he saw several cars slow traffic down, which can be a sign that a drag race is about to start.

The officer saw the race begin and said he lost track of the cars – a Camaro and a Dodge Challenger – "in a relatively short time, indicating they were traveling at excessive speed," Longworth said. When the officer arrived at Exit 17, a motorist flagged him down and told him a car had crashed.

"The officer was not engaged in pursuit at the time of the crash," Longworth said, adding that police know the identities of those involved in the race, that interviews were being conducted and that "we anticipate that some charges will follow." He declined to elaborate on what those charges would be.

The Camaro crashed through an 18-inch-high concrete barrier with metal guardrails above and plunged 20 feet, into a maple tree, which was scarred and had a piece of the car hanging in its branches this morning. Additional branches were seen protruding from the crumpled car's engine compartment. Two tires without wheels and several parts of the car's body were removed from the woods and placed on a flatbed towtruck with the remains of the car.

The crash forced authorities to close the northbound parkway at Lawrence Street as firefighters and police units responded. The parkway was reopened about 8:40 a.m. The car, which appeared to be orange with black racing stripes, was overturned in a thick patch of greenery, about 20 feet beneath the bridge. The bridge and ramp were reopened about 10:30 a.m.

County Public Works and Transportation Commissioner Jay Pisco said "It was obviously a tremendous impact" into the railing, 18 feet of which was knocked out by the crash.

"In normal circumstances, it was built to keep cars from going over," he said.

Brandon Neider, 20, of Yonkers, who was driving a 2008 Challenger, gave The Journal News a different account of events.

He said it happened after drivers left a car meet, including powerful muscle cars, in the Applebee's parking lot on Executive Boulevard in Yonkers. More than 100 people and 50 cars had been at the meet. Neider and the Camaro driver were among about 10 drivers heading up the Saw Mill River Parkway.

County police mentioned at their press conference that the cruiser had a dashboard camera that captured the events as they unfolded.

Members of a motorcycle club, Demented Sinners Brotherhood, who appeared to know the victim, left the scene after the body was removed from the wreck, shortly before 7:45 a.m., but declined to comment.

Carol Lancelotti, who lives nearby on Kings Street, was going to bed at the time of the crash and described hearing a screeching sound and then a boom.

"It sounded like a tremendous explosion," Lancelotti said. "I guess they were trying to stop."

No skid marks were apparent on the bridge. The sound Lancelotti heard might have been the welded steel barrier and anchoring bolts being torn apart.

The Ashford Avenue Bridge is a vital east-west span linking Dobbs Ferry to Ardsley and was one of four bridges targeted by a $100 million construction project that began earlier this year.

In June 2012, the bridge was the scene of emergency repairs after chunks of concrete fell from its underbelly and landed on cars driving on the New York State Thruway.

Staff writer Hoa Nguyen and Michael G. Meaney contributed to this report.

@JORourkeT800