Salina, NY – Onondaga County sheriff’s and district attorney’s officials will meet Monday to discuss whether criminal or traffic charges should be brought against drivers involved in a fatal crash Monday on Onondaga Lake Parkway, Sheriff Kevin Walsh said. “I know a number of charges will be brought. Exactly what they are going to be, I can’t say at...
Maryann DennySalina, NY – Onondaga County sheriff’s and district attorney’s officials will meet Monday to discuss whether criminal or traffic charges should be brought against drivers involved in a fatal crash Monday on Onondaga Lake Parkway, Sheriff Kevin Walsh said.
“I know a number of charges will be brought. Exactly what they are going to be, I can’t say at this point,” Walsh said. “That’s what we are going to try to determine on Monday, hopefully. At least we’ll provide the DA’s office with all the information we have that’s available at this point. That may be sufficient to move forward.”
Walsh said the lead investigator and accident reconstruction specialists on the case will represent the sheriff’s office. Senior Assistant District Attornney Christopher Bednarski said he will attend for the DA’s office.
Investigators still believe the accident stemmed from a “road rage” incident between Matthew Stephan, 22, of Clay, and John M. D’Amore, 21, of Salina, Walsh said.
Police have said D’Amore’s southbound sedan passed Stephan, who then tried to pass D’Amore’s car. Stephan’s Volkswagen Jetta apparently crossed the double line and struck an oncoming northbound Ford Taurus being driven by Maryann “Mary” Denny, 40, of North Syracuse, police have said.
Denny was killed instantly and her passenger, Kristen Kelly, 20, of Syracuse, was injured. A pickup truck ran into a roadside ditch attempting to avoid the collision and a minivan hit the engine of Stephan’s Jetta, which had been left on the road.
Stephan also was injured. D’Amore did not stop but deputies found him two days later with help from the public. He is cooperating with investigators, Walsh said.
The officials meeting Monday will look at how road rage in this instance may translate into specific offenses, Walsh said.
“’Road rage’ is a term that’s applied to aggressive driving,” Walsh said. “There is no specific definition, although there have been some attempts, but there is no legal definition of what road rage is. But it generally applies to a number of different kinds of aggressive driving behaviors that generally lead to some sort of a confrontation, or in some instances, an accident such as this.”
Staff writer Jim O'Hara contributed to this report.