From Saugerties Police
Date of Incident: January 6, 2019
On January 6, 2019 at 11:11am Saugerties Police responded to a 911 call reporting a one car motor vehicle crash on State route 32, between Fawn Road and Blue Mountain Road.
Upon arrival officers found a 2012 Mercedes-Benz C30 that had stuck a tree and was on its roof, after having rolled over several times, leaving a debris field over 200 feet in radius At the time of the crash, the vehicle had been occupied by four individuals, 24-year-old Keishawn Blanch of Catherine Street Kingston, whom was trapped within the remains of the vehicle, and had to be extricated out by firefighters, 23-year-old Brittney Ruskie of Elm Street Saugerties and, 23-year-old Justin Malloy of Saugerties, both rear seat passengers that had been ejected from the vehicle during the crash, and 35-year-old John Kuhn of Highland Court Saugerties who was the vehicle operator, and was removed from the vehicle by a passersby prior to the arrival of police.
All four victims were treated at the scene by paramedics from Diaz Ambulance and Mobile Life Support. Blanch and Ruskie were airlifted from the scene by helicopters and transported to the Albany Medical Center with life threatening injuries. Atmospheric Weather conditions prevented additional helicopters from assisting at the scene, resulting in land transport by Mobile Life Support and Catskill Ambulance of the remaining two victims to the Albany Medical Center.
The Crash Reconstruction Unit from the NYSP assisted Saugerties Police Detectives in the reconstruction investigation of the crash which resulted in the closer of route 212 between Fawn Road and Blue Mountain Road for seven hours, as detectives and investigators scoured the scene.
The Saugerties Police were assisted at the scene by the NYSP, Saxton Fire Dept, Centerville Cedar Grove Fire Dept, Diaz Ambulance, Mobile Life Support, Catskill Ambulance, Life Net 71 and Air 2. The Police investigation is continuing, and police are requesting that anyone whom may have witnessed the crash or were in the area at the time of the crash and observed the Mercedes-Benz to please call police detectives at 845-246-9800.