A woman passenger was killed on Monday after a wrong-way driver pursued by police in the Adirondacks region of upstate New York crashed into a pickup with four people, New York state troopers said.
At 7:43 p.m., troopers reported that they were trying to stop a 2019 Ford F-150 truck going the wrong way on the Northway (Interstate 87) in the town of Lewis.
According to troopers, the driver, 37-year-old Brian M. O’Leary of East Millinocket, Maine, did not stop, and his truck smashed head-on into a black 2019 Dodge Ram truck driven by Dale N. Groshans, 66, of Port Henry, New York.
Kathy J. Groshans, 47, also of Port Henry, a passenger in the Dodge, died at the scene, troopers said.
Dale Groshans was taken to the University of Vermont Medical Center at Champlain Valley Physician’s Hospital and later transported to the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington, Vermont, for a head injury, troopers said.
A 4-year-old boy and 7-year-old boy, who were in the backseat of the Dodge at the time of the crash, were both airlifted to the University of Vermont Medical Center and are in stable condition, troopers said.
O’Leary, the wrong-way driver, was also airlifted to the University of Vermont Medical Center and is in “very critical condition” with life-threatening injuries, troopers said.
The New York attorney general’s office is investigating the incident along with state police. The AG’s office was directed by the state in April 2021 to investigate all fatal incidents that involve police officers.
Story by Rylee Kirk, Syracuse.com.