A car accident has been reported on the Thruway in the area of mile marker 385 in the westbound lane.
There is air bag deployment.
No reports on injuries yet.
Town of Batavia Fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.
UPDATE 11:27 p.m: A vehicle is blocking a lane. No word yet on injuries.
UPDATE 11:36 p.m.: No definitive word on injuries, but this is not sounding serious.
A vehicle with two occupants went off the roadway in the westbound lane at mile marker 394 on the Thruway. Injuries are unknown.
East Pembroke Fire Department and Mercy EMS are responding.
UPDATE (2:27 p.m.): Responders could not locate the vehicle. Units are put back in service.
A car has hit a guardrail on Route 262 just east of Elba.
There are possible injuries.
Elba Fire and Mercy EMS being dispatched.
UPDATE 8:27 p.m.: Accident is located west of the village line toward Weatherwax Road.
A driver involved in an early-morning, single-car rollover accident on Route 33 in Pembroke was taken to ECMC and may face charges related to the accident.
Igor Tancevski, 26, of 101 Christina Drive, North Chili, was reportedly traveling west on Route 33 when his car went off the road in the area of 1505 Route 33 hitting a mailbox and a post.
The 2008 Toyota sedan rolled over and came to rest on its passenger side.
No other vehicles were involved in the 4:07 a.m. accident, which is being investigated by Deputy Eric Seppela.
The nature of any possible pending charges were not disclosed.
One person was transported to UMMC yesterday following a three-car pile up on Route 5 in Corfu. A big rig truck driver towing a trailer reportedly failed to stop in time for cars that had slowed to allow another vehicle to make a left-hand turn into the Kutter's Cheese parking lot.
Elias P. Seward, 21, of 7812 Gorton Road, Basom, was cited for allegedly speeding. Seward reportedly told investigator Deputy Chad Minuto that he was unable to stop his truck in time.
The truck, owned by Zahm & Matson, Inc., of Falconer, slammed into a car driven by Joseph Kester, 34, of Warsaw, whose 2006 Kia then hit a car driven by Melody J. Zuppa, 48, of Amherst.
Zuppa, who was cited for allegedly not wearing a seat belt, was injured in the crash. No other injuries were reported.
The accident occurred at 3:57 p.m. in the area of 857 Main Road.
A car has reportedly sheared off a fire hydrant at Putnam Road and E Road, Town of Batavia.
No water leak reported at this time.
UPDATE: Reader submitted photo.
A three-car accident with injuries has been reported in front of Kutter's Cheese, 857 Main Road, Corfu.
Mercy EMS and Pembroke Fire and Indian Falls Fire are being dispatched.
UPDATE 4:16 p.m.: One injury reported. Extrication required.
A motorcycle accident with injuries is reported at the intersection of Council House Road and Meadville Road.
Alabama Fire and Mercy EMS being dispatched.
UPDATE 4:38 p.m.: Apparently there's been only one call about the accident. It doesn't appear any other vehicles are involved. The rider is reportedly still on the ground.
UPDATE 4:40 p.m.: Victim is conscious and breathing, but some heavy bleeding. Mercy Flight requested to the scene.
UPDATE 4:54 p.m.: Mercy Flight on its way, about a seven minute ETA.
UPDATE 5:04 p.m.: Mercy Flight is at the scene.
UPDATE: Several minutes ago, Mercy Flight left the scene and all Alabama units are back in service.
A woman was taken to Erie County Medical Center last night after a rear tire came off her Ford Explorer causing the vehicle to flip while she was heading westbound on the Thruway.
The SUV's front wheel then got caught in the rumble strip on the shoulder, shearing it off and causing the car to rollover again.
The 54-year-old woman's Explorer came to rest on its wheels and Batavia Fire needed to extricate her before she was transported by Mercy Flight to ECMC.
The woman was identified by Trooper Dan Golinski as Kathy Weich, of Sprakers.
The accident occurred at 9:41 p.m. at mile marker 389.3, which is between the Thruway entrance and the Bank Street Road bridge.
Weich is listed in stable condition at ECMC.
A car has reportedly rolled over multiple times on the Thruway east of Route 98 and west of the Bank Street Road Bridge.
A woman is reportedly injured, but no report on how seriously.
Town of Batavia Fire and Mercy EMS responding.
UPDATE 9:44 p.m.: The accident is in the westbound lane at mile marker 389.3.
UPDATE 9:46 p.m.: Extrication is required. Mercy Flight is being dispatched.
UPDATE 9:56 p.m: Mercy Flight leaving Genesee County Airport. ETA one minute.
UPDATE 9:59 p.m.: Mercy Flight on the ground.
UPDATE: 10:10 p.m.: Patient in route to Strong via Mercy Flight.
A two-car accident with injuries, blocking traffic, has been reported at Route 98 and Batavia-Elba Townline Road.
Mercy EMS and Town of Batavia Fire are responding.
The injuries do not sound serious at this time.
A single-car accident has occurred at 10 Munger St. in Bergen. The vehicle struck a utility pole, which fell on top of it, and two of the three occupants ran away.
One male remains at the scene. Bergen fire and law enforcement are called to the scene.
The DWI trial of Ronald J. Wendt II hit a snag late Friday afternoon when the prosecution elicited testimony regarding the equipment used in the accident-scene investigation.
Without the jury present, Judge Robert Noonan questioned the admissibility of information about the Nikon Total Station, Vista FX (6th Edition) and Crashnet, saying case law and the equipments' use in other jurisdictions needed to be researched before he could make a ruling.
As a result, fact-finding in the case, which was expected to conclude by 5 o'clock, was reconvened until Monday at 1:30 p.m.
(The judge has another matter to handle Monday morning.)
All but perhaps two or three people present were in for a lesson in modern technology.
It began with the testimony of Genesee County Sheriff's Deputy Ronald E. Meides, who has nearly 20 years of service and was named Officer of the Year in 2009.
He took the stand at 3:30 p.m. and detailed his training, which included 14 weeks of field training, in accident-scene investigations and said he had handled about 1,000 of them, but only 20 serious enough to warrant an extensive report.
Meides investigated the accident scene in front of My Saloon in Darien in mid-August last year. Under questioning by Deputy District Attorney Kevin Finnell, he said the process includes viewing the scene, collecting data, observing the vehicles involved, noting skids marks, gouges in the pavement and environmental factors.
Measurements of tire marks, etc., are taken, in this case, on the day following the accident -- in the daytime on Aug. 15. Meides said the places where the vehicles came to rest had been spray painted and other physical evidence noted. Reference points are also noted -- a nearby drainage basin, a telephone pole, curb cut-outs, driveways, and the front porch of My Saloon.
A week later the officer went to Parisee's automotive shop in Alexander where the Sheriff's department secures and stores vehicles. He measured the "crushed profiles" of driver Rachel Enderle's Toyota Camry and defendant Wendt's Dodge Ram extended-cab pickup.
All of the data is stored in an electronic measuring device -- the Nikon Total Station -- and downloaded into a computer. Then a picture is drawn around the "data points" shown on the screen. The resulting diagram was projected in the courtroom Friday for the jurors to see.
The gist of Finnell's questions and Meides' answers seemed to indicate that this nifty tool used in creating the diagram can determine approach angles, (impact) departure angles, distances, points of impact, resting points, speed and on and on.
All ready to go for it, Finnell then asked "What happened in this accident?"
Defense Attorney Thomas Burns objected, saying there was no foundation established to allow testimony indicating the equipment is standard and accurate.
The jury was recessed and the judge left the courtroom to do a bit of research.
When Noonan returned, with the jury still out, he said his "research shows the Nikon Total Station has not been cited in any case in New York or elsewhere in the United States.
"Absent some indication by this or some other witness, that the Nikon Total Station is generally accepted, I can't allow testimony about it. I've never heard of it, know nothing about it, just that you put data in and get information. The objection is sustained."
But after all this took place, Finnell did his own research during a break and then offered that, well, Vista FX is really the computer-aided draft (CAD) software used in doing the calculations, the Nikon gadget is only a measuring tool -- a fancy tape measure, so to speak.
Noonan, who seemed rather exasperated, said that's the first he'd ever heard about the Vista FX, since no one brought it up before, and he asked if it was "judicially recognized for admissibility purposes?"
At that point, close to 4:30, the prosecutors, including District Attorney Lawrence Friedman, scrambled to find a credible witness to testify about the widespread acceptibility of Vista FX. The judge, too, left the room briefly to research this thing, and upon his return announced that his efforts "were equally unfruitful."
But Finnell persisted, saying "It's a valid software program, a CAD program, widely used."
"Then we need to lay that foundation," Noonan said.
Whereupon, finally, Sheriff's Sgt. William C. Scott, who had left the courthouse only shortly before, returned and took the oath to testify.
Scott, with 21 years of service and hundreds of crash-scene investigations to his credit, told of his familiarity with Vista FX and the Nikon Total Station. These, he said, are routinely used by law enforcement, fire inspectors, engineers and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The Nikon Total Station uses a "reflective prism" to measure distance and other data and the Vista FX software is a CAD program which uses the Nikon information to map out the scene. These are specially geared for use by law and fire departments and in Genesee County they've been employed for 10 years, according to Scott.
"Once you put in the data, what does it give you?" the judge asked Scott.
"Points on a screen," the sargeant replied, which you can label and ID beforehand on the Nikon.
"Do these instruments calculate speed, direction?" Noonan asked, trying to put all the pieces together.
"No, not in and of itself," Scott explained, sort of. "They are used for you to make your own determinations. The program (Vista FX) can be input with information for it to calculate...the mathematics for crash measurements."
Scott said he was trained to use Vista FX by the vendor himself and his salesman.
Burns asked if Vista FX can calculate the results, if requested, for speeds of vehicles at the time of impact, or provide estimates of the kinetic energy, or amount of force, in a crash.
Yes, Scott said, he uses Vista FX and measurements gathered from other sources to glean information to feed into yet another wonder of the modern world, Crashnet.
This is a software program comprised of 150 mathematical equations, embedded in Vista FX, to provide answers once figures are manually put in. For example, the momentum of a bicycle involved in an accident with a car.
Burns asked if other members of the Sheriff's Department were also trained in Crashnet and Scott said that four or five others were trained the first week it was acquired.
This is also employed by the Sheriff's offices in Niagara and Chautauqua counties, among other organizations, Scott said.
"Have they put that before a court? Has it been used in any court?" Burns asked.
"I don't know," Scott responded.
"This is new territory," Noonan said. "I know you want me to make a ruling today, but I want to look into this a little more before reconvening (the jury)."
Eighteen-year-old Katie Stanley died in the crash Wendt is on trial for. She was a front-seat passenger in Rachel's car when it slammed into the side of Wendt's truck just after 11 p.m. on Aug. 14, 2009.
A motor-vehicle accident with minor injuries is reported at 7906 Byron Road, near the Stafford Country Club.
Stafford fire department and Mercy EMS are responding.
A three-car accident with injuries has been reported at Daws Corners.
UPDATE 6 p.m.: Northbound traffic at Saile Drive is being closed.
UPDATE 6:32 p.m.: The Elba fire chief has told fire police to reopen the road.
A two-car accident, that is not blocking, has been reported in the area of 6177 Main Road, Stafford.
Stafford Fire and Mercy EMS are responding.
An accident with a head injury has been reported on Route 490, just past the Bergen exit.
The accident is actually in Monroe County, but still part of the Bergen Fire District.
Bergin Fire and Le Roy Ambulance have been dispatched.
UPDATE: This apparently was not an accident. There was a parent taking a child to the hospital after the child was hurt in a playground accident. Bergen back in service.
Batavia Police are on scene of an accident at Park and Richmond. No word on injuries.
A second accident at Park and Oak has just been called in. It's reportedly a rear-end accident. No word on injuries.
A one-car accident with injuries has been reported in the area of 3126 Stegman Road, Batavia.
A third advanced life-support ambulance is requested.
East Pembroke Fire is on scene.
In the three or four hours before the accident in Darien that took the life of a Dansville girl, Ronald J. Wendt may have drank as many as six beers, a longtime friend of his testified today.
Thirty-five-year-old William D. Marchisin, who says he's known Wendt for a number of years, was called by District Attorney Lawrence Friedman to testify about what he and Wendt did in the hours leading up to the Aug. 14, 2009 accident.
The day started at 11 a.m. at Marchisin's house and included a pizza lunch at about 1 p.m. The two men then went to a neighbor's barn to remove a grain bin and then spent the next several hours baling hay.
According to Marchisin, Wendt brought along a cooler that contained six Arizona Ice Teas and six beers. The two men drank three beers apiece before leaving the field, then at two more at the VFW Hall in Alexander, and then one more in Attica while waiting for their wings to be cooked at a pizza shop there.
Under cross examination by Wendt's defense attorney, Thomas Burns, it came out that Marchisin has given different versions of the events that day.
In one interview with investigators, he even lied under oath -- he admitted this in court today -- about even being at the accident scene.
In his first interview with investigator William Ferrando, Marchisin said that Wendt dropped him off at home before Wendt drove to My Saloon (the accident occurred in front of the bar on Broadway Road in Darien). A few minutes later, Marchisin gave a new sworn statement saying that he was in the truck when it was struck by a car driven by Rachel Enderle.
Marchisin said he was scared during the Aug. 18 meeting with Ferrando, which is why he lied.
As for when he and Wendt had their first beer, Marchisin has given different time lines. In Grand Jury testimony, he said 7 p.m. Today, he said under direct examination that it was 8 p.m., but later testified that it might have been 15 or 20 minutes after 7 p.m.
Marchisin also admitted that he left the scene of the accident as soon as ambulances arrived.
He described the post-accident scene as chaos, with people yelling and screaming, and bar patrons mobbing the scene, bringing out drinks, including beer bottles, and setting them on the car and truck.
"I stood there on the curb," Marchisin said. "I stood there and I don’t want to say 'awed,' but dazzled, and I considered the scene secured, I guess, and I told Ron, 'I can’t handle it anymore,' and I walked home."
Marchisin lives about a mile from where the accident occurred.
Wendt's friend did not testify about the accident itself and may be called back to the stand on another day to testify about what he saw and heard.
First on the stand today was Ferrando, who photographed the accident scene and authenticated the pictures as evidence.
Among the pictures, are two that show a LaBatt's Blue beer box in Wendt's pickup bed and what appeared to be a Blue beer can on the ground next to the truck.
Also on the stand for a brief time was Gabby Mahus, who was a passenger, sitting behind the driver, in the car that hit Wendt's truck.
She broke down when describing the accident scene and Katie Stanley being taken from the car, apparently not breathing. Judge Robert Noonan authorized a short recess so she compose herself, but Friedman had only two more questions for her when she came back.
We'll have coverage of the afternoon testimony later.
Copyright © 2008-2022 The Batavian. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service
