Driver sentenced for falsifying DMV documents following investigation into vehicle-pedestrian fatality

Mohammed R. Tanbir

Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Keane announces that Mohammed R. Tanbir, 28, of Buffalo, was sentenced this morning before Erie County Court Judge Suzanne Maxwell Barnes to five years of probation.

On Saturday, July 15, 2023, at approximately 11:00 p.m., the defendant was driving a vehicle on Elm wood Avenue when he hit a pedestrian who was crossing the street south of Forest Avenue in the City of Buffalo. The vic tim, 21-year-old Sydney C. Lohr, was taken by ambulance to ECMC. The victim later died from the injuries at the hospital. During the investigation, it was determined that the defendant was operating a vehicle with heavily tinted windows.

The defendant, with intent to defraud, submit ted falsified forms to the New York State Depart ment of Motor Vehicles, citing a medical exemp tion that allowed him to legally install the window tints in his vehicle. The defendant stated a medical condition and falsified a doctor’s signature on the forms in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Tanbir pleaded guilty to three counts of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree (Class “D” felonies) in February 2025. The defendant pleaded guilty to the highest counts in the indictment.

DA Keane commends Confidential Criminal Investigator Bob Bebak for his work in this inves tigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Brian P. Dassero of the Special Investigations and Prosecutions Bureau.