"Driver acquitted in fatal Megabus crash" Associated Press, February 29, 2012
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - A bus driver was acquitted yesterday in the deaths of four passengers killed when his double-decker crashed into an overpass in upstate New York.
A judge announced the verdict after a nonjury trial for 60-year-old John Tomaszewski of Yardville, N.J. Tomaszewski would have faced up to four years in state prison on each of four counts of criminally negligent homicide. He sat with his head bowed and showed no reaction as Onondaga County Judge Anthony Aloi read the verdict.
“It was a tragic accident and four people lost their lives,’’ a weary Tomaszewski said as he left court with his wife, Valerie. “It’s something I’ll have to deal with the rest of my life.’’
There were 29 passengers on the Megabus when the top of the bus hit the railroad bridge in Salina, just outside Syracuse, early on Sept. 11, 2010.
Tomaszewski was driving from Philadelphia to Toronto with a planned stop at the Regional Transportation Center in Syracuse when he missed an exit from Interstate 81 and ended up on the Onondaga Lake Parkway instead.
Related: Overnight Bus Trip in New York
Assistant District Attorney Chris Bednarski said during the trial that Tomaszewski was using a GPS device as he tried to find his way to the bus station and passed 13 low-bridge warning signs, some with flashing yellow lights, before the wreck.
“I’m disappointed for the families,’’ Bednarski said after the ruling. “They were expecting closure. They’re dealing as well as can be expected. It’s something you probably never recover from.’’
Tomaszewski’s lawyer, Eric Jeschke, argued that state and CSX railroad officials were responsible for failing to fix the danger presented by the bridge.
--more--"
"Three hurt as truck hits Amish buggy" February 29, 2012
MASSENA, N.Y. - Two young Amish children were listed in critical condition after their horse-drawn buggy was rear-ended by a FedEx truck on a northern New York road, authorities said.
State Police said the accident occurred around 2:30 p.m. Monday on Route 37 in the town of Massena, on the Canadian border. Troopers said that two women each had two of their children in the buggy when it was struck from behind by the delivery truck.
Two 3-year-old children were in critical condition yesterday at a Syracuse hospital, police said. One of the mothers is at the same hospital, being treated for a possible spinal injury.
--more--"
"Boy, 12, sentenced in shopping-cart case" associated Press March 09, 2012
NEW YORK - A troubled 12-year-old who sent a shopping cart hurtling onto a woman from a fourth-floor mall walkway was sentenced Thursday to at least six months in a therapeutic group home, with a judge calling his problems grave but not insurmountable.
Biting his lip and hugging an uncle before being led out of court, the boy headed for up to 16 months in the residential program, closing a case that spurred soul-searching about out-of-control children.
Charged as juveniles, the boy and a now-13-year-old friend pleaded guilty to assault in the Oct. 30 prank. It seriously hurt a woman who was shopping for Halloween candy.
The younger boy was the one who came up with the idea of tossing the cart off the walkway for kicks, and he gave the cart the final shove, city Law Department attorney Leah S. Schmelzer said.
He arrived at that moment freighted with years of familial and emotional turmoil.
His home life has been chaotic, punctuated with frequent moves, parental neglect, and violence, including an episode in which the boy saw his father attack his mother, Judge Susan Larabee said. The judge noted that the boy has been suspended at times from school, once after he started choking a girl, and she told the boy he has serious anger and mental health problems.
“All of those things do not mean that you’re doomed to keep living like this,’’ Larabee said. “You can have a better life. You can do better yourself. But it doesn’t happen overnight.’’
--more--"
Also see: N.Y. prostitution ring has lofty ties, prosecutor says
Maybe we should stay the night.
