The road through Hyde Park, in late autumn.
By June Mercer | November 12, 2026
Richard C. Rider, 47, was sentenced to 7.5 to 15 years in state prison for the death of a Hyde Park man in a December 2025 collision on Albany Post Road. The case was heard in Dutchess County Court. Rider was convicted of first-degree vehicular manslaughter. He also received a concurrent sentence of 1 and a third to 4 years on a charge of driving while ability impaired by drugs. Both sentences run at the same time.
Judge Karen Edelman-Reyes presided over the sentencing in Dutchess County Court. The office of District Attorney Anthony Parisi prosecuted the case.
The Crash on Albany Post Road
The collision took place on December 14, 2025, on Albany Post Road near Huyler Drive in Hyde Park. Rider was behind the wheel of a white Ford F-150 traveling northbound. The truck crossed into the southbound lane and struck a Honda Accord head-on. Alijah M. Johnson, 28, a Hyde Park resident, was driving the Honda Accord. Johnson died as a result of the crash.
Five Drugs and a Sixth DUI Arrest
Toxicology results found five substances in Rider's system at the time of the crash: clonazepam, diazepam, nordiazepam, delta-9 THC, and methadone. The December 14, 2025, collision marked Rider's sixth arrest for DUI.
The vehicular manslaughter charge and the DWAI-drugs charge both reflected the toxicology findings. Rider's sixth arrest for impaired driving stood on the record before Judge Edelman-Reyes at sentencing. District Attorney Parisi's office provided the account of the charges and the sequence of events that led to them.
