Syracuse, NY - Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick this morning said it may be a week or two before any decision is made on what, if any, charges to file in Saturday's fatal bus crash on Onondaga Lake Parkway. Fitzpatrick said he wouldn't make any decision on charges until scientific testing is completed. That would include an accident...
William FitzpatrickFitzpatrick said he wouldn't make any decision on charges until scientific testing is completed. That would include an accident reconstruction and testing on blood obtained from the bus driver, he explained.
While Sheriff Kevin Walsh has said there was no apparent involvement of drugs or alcohol in the crash, Fitzpatrick said today that might have been difficult to immediately determine since the driver suffered a head injury in the crash that killed four passengers.
Walsh said he expects the driver will be charged with failure to obey traffic signs, since he passed numerous warnings about the height of the bridge. Accident investigators are also researching if he can be charged with hitting the bridge itself.
Any charges are expected to be traffic violations, not crimes, Walsh said.
Fitzpatrick also said the double-decker bus had real-time GPS tracking and company officials have agreed to make all that information available to authorities to determine the speed the bus was traveling about 2:30 a.m. Saturday when it slammed into the railroad bridge over the highway and flipped onto its side.
Killed in the crash were Deanna Armstrong, 18, a former West Genesee High School student now living in New Jersey; Benjamin Z. Okorie, 35, a minister from Malaysia; Ashwani Mehta of New Delhi, India; and Kevin Coffey, 19, a Temple University student from Kansas.
Two passengers remain hospitalized today in Syracuse. Lo Wah Chu, 55, of Pennsylvania, was reported in critical condition at Upstate University Hospital. Mabel Tabb, 79, of Philadelphia, was listed in stable condition at Crouse Hospital.
Authorities said the bus driver, John Tomaszewski, 59, of Yardville, N.J., was released from Upstate University Hospital Sunday.
Fitzpatrick said the crash would be scrutinized very closely before any decision about charges is made given the fact four people died.
"We owe it to them at the very least," he said.
Fitzpatrick today also said his office is continuing to work closely with the Sheriff's Office to determine exactly what happened Aug. 16 in the last fatal crash on the Onondaga Lake Parkway.
Maryann Denny, 40, of North Syracuse, was killed when her car was struck by an oncoming vehicle that crossed the center line on the roadway. Authorities have said they suspected road rage on the part of the other driver - Matthew Stephan, 22, of Clay - contributed to that fatal crash. No charges have yet been filed.