Police say Albert Falchi's car was struck by Dean S. Tuszynski, who has been convicted eight times of felony DWI.
Albert Falchi's lunch plans were abruptly changed Sept. 1 when his car was struck by a drunk driver. Police say he was the victim of Dean S. Tuszynski, who has been convicted eight times of felony DWI. Syracuse, NY - Albert Falchi won a match against his longtime golf partner and then hopped into his Toyota Corolla for an 8-mile trip down Interstate 690 for lunch.
He never made it.
As Falchi was exiting I-690 at John Glenn Boulevard shortly after noon on Sept. 1, he saw a car racing toward him from behind. The car, a Chevrolet Lumina, grew larger and larger in his rearview mirror.
“He was driving like a bat out of hell,” said Falchi, 65, of Camillus.
Seconds later, the car slammed into the back of Falchi’s Corolla.
The driver of the Lumina was Dean S. Tuszynski, 51, of 200 Cleveland Ave., Salina, police said. At the time he already had eight felony drunken-driving convictions. He had been out of prison for less than two months. He had no driver’s license.
At the moment of impact, Falchi’s head snapped forward. His back stiffened. He slowed down and started to pull over to the right.
Dean S. TuszynskiAfter Tuszynski’s car rammed Falchi’s Corolla, it bounced off, said Falchi, whose account was confirmed by authorities.
Tuszynski’s car pulled next to Falchi’s sedan, scraping the driver’s side of the Corolla as it passed.
The friction pushed Falchi’s car further off the right side of the road. He clenched the steering wheel with both hands, trying to keep control and avoid going off the road.
He could see a woman in the passenger seat of Tuszynski’s car. The Lumina blew past several other cars as it sped down the ramp onto John Glenn Boulevard.
Furious, Falchi took off after the Chevrolet, honking his horn. Tuszynski slowed when he reached the end of the ramp. Falchi caught up and pulled behind him, still honking.
Tuszynski eventually stopped at the railroad crossing near the Coca-Cola bottling plant at Farrell Road.
Falchi pulled up about 10 feet behind him. Both men got out.
“What the hell are you doing?” Falchi shouted at him.
Tuszynski quickly admitted he was going too fast and caused the crash, Falchi said. He started shouting at Tuszynski, using language he wouldn’t repeat for the newspaper.
Eventually, Falchi told Tuszynski to produce his insurance card. Tuszynski walked back to his vehicle.
Instead of returning, Tuszynski jumped into the car and took off down John Glenn Boulevard, Falchi said.
Falchi memorized the license plate and called 911.
The dispatcher sent out a description of Tuszynski’s car. A few minutes later, Liverpool Officer Sean Pierce said he saw Tuszynski driving erratically, crossing the center line, on Route 370 near the center of Liverpool.
Pierce recognized Tuszynski: he had assisted deputies in a 2005 chase after a drunk Tuszynski struck two vehicles — one on John Glenn and the other nearby on Route 370 — and fled in his car.
When Pierce pulled him over Sept. 1, Tuszynski refused to take a breath test, police said.
Pierce asked Tuszynski’s passenger, Candace Vanslyke, if they had been drinking in the vehicle. She said yes, police said. Authorities found open beer cans and a vodka bottle in the car.
Jeanne Tuszynski, 88, who lives with her son, told police Vanslyke, 46, of Baldwinsville, was driving when the couple left her house that morning. She didn’t know that Vanslyke also had her license suspended.
Vanslyke’s driving privileges were taken away after she was charged with drunken driving in a hit-and-run crash Jan. 16 in Syracuse, according to court records. Her case is still pending.
Jeanne Tuszynski said she loaned the car so her son and Vanslyke could pick up supplies for a car-painting project. On the way home, Tuszynski took the driver’s seat.
After the crash, a state trooper stopped by John Glenn Boulevard. He told Falchi that Tuszynski had been caught. The trooper described Tuszynski’s record.
“What the hell’s he doing drunk at 10 in the morning?” Falchi asked the trooper. “He should go to jail.”
After recounting the crash, he followed the trooper down to the street where Tuszynski was stopped and later to the police station to give a statement.
Tuszynski was charged with driving while intoxicated, first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, failure to keep right; unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, refusal to submit to an alcohol breath test and consuming an alcoholic beverage in a motor vehicle. He was sent to jail with no bail.
The most recent crash convinced Onondaga County Court Judge Anthony Aloi to consider using the state’s persistent felony offender law. That could send Tuszynski to prison for a minimum sentence of 15 years to life.
Falchi is hoping Tuszynski gets a long prison sentence.
“He’s going to kill somebody if he gets off on this one, it’s only a matter of time,” Falchi said.
Jim O'Hara contributed to this report.