Limousine wreck in new york

Limo Operator From 2018 Crash That Killed 20 In N.Y. Will Avoid Prison : NPR

September 2, 20216:06 PM ET

The Associated Press

Nauman Hussain, who is charged with 20 counts of second degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in a 2018 limousine crash, walks into a makeshift courtroom to accommodate more people at the Schoharie High School gymnasium Thursday, Sept. 2, 2021, in Schoharie, N.Y. Hans Pennink/AP hide caption

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Hans Pennink/AP

SCHOHARIE, N.Y. (AP) — The operator of a limousine company was spared prison time Thursday in a 2018 crash that killed 20 people when catastrophic brake failure sent a stretch limo full of birthday revelers hurtling down a hill in upstate New York.

Loved ones of the dead excoriated Nauman Hussain, 31, as he sat quietly at the defense table during a hearing that was held in a high school gymnasium to provide for social distancing among the many relatives, friends and media members attending.

Hussain, the former operator of Prestige Limousine, had originally been charged with 20 counts each of criminally negligent homicide and second-degree manslaughter in what was the deadliest U.S. transportation disaster in a decade.

But under an agreement for Hussain to plead guilty only to the homicide counts and spare families the uncertainties and emotional toll of a trial, he is being sentenced to five years of probation and 1,000 hours of community service. His case had been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

As Judge George Bartlett III prepared to sentence Hussain, loved ones of the victims took turns talking of lives cut short, the holes left in their own and their frustration that the operator would avoid time behind bars.

"Every day I try to wrap my head around this impossible situation," said Sheila McGarvey, whose 30-year-old son Shane McGowan and his wife, Erin, were passengers.

She wished, she said, that a fraction of any money Hussain spent on lawyers would have been spent to fix the limo's brakes.

Hussain was accused of putting the victims in a death trap.

"My son, my baby boy, was killed in a limo while trying to be safe," said Beth Muldoon, the mother of Adam Jackson, 34, who was killed along with his wife, Abigail King Jackson.

The couple, who with the others had rented the limo to avoid drinking and driving, had two small children. Muldoon lamented the holidays and life milestones the parents will miss.

One spectator left the hearing, cursing and shouting, "He killed 20 people," before apologizing to the judge on her way out.

The judge noted that Hussain's guilty plea could be used to buoy any lawsuits.

On Oct. 6, 2018, Axel Steenburg of Amsterdam, 30 miles west of Albany, rented the 2001 Ford Excursion limousine for the 30th birthday of his new wife, Amy. The party group, ranging in age from 24 to 34, included Axel's brother, Amy's three sisters and two of their husbands, and close friends.

En route to Brewery Ommegang, south of Cooperstown, the limo's brakes failed on a downhill stretch of state Route 30 in Schoharie, west of Albany. The vehicle blew through a stop sign at a T-intersection at over 100 mph (160 kph) and crashed into a small ravine near a popular country store.

Seventeen family members and friends were killed, along with the driver and two bystanders outside the store.

Schoharie County District Attorney Susan Mallery's office has said Hussain allowed passengers to ride in the limo despite having received "multiple notices of violations" from the state and having been told repairs were inadequate. State police said the vehicle should have been taken out of service because of brake problems identified in an inspection a month before the crash.

But complications were highlighted in the plea agreement.

In a separate report last fall, the National Transportation Safety Board concluded that while the crash was likely caused by Prestige Limousine's "egregious disregard for safety" that resulted in brake failure, ineffective state oversight contributed.

Prosecutors and Hussain's lawyers said the plea agreement assured a resolution in a case that would have faced an uncertain outcome if presented to a jury.

Lee Kindlon, an attorney for Hussain, has said his client tried to maintain the limousine and relied on what he was told by state officials and a repair shop that inspected it.

According to the plea agreement, Hussain had the 2001 vehicle serviced at a Mavis Discount Tire store multiple times in the two years before the crash, including twice for brake repairs. The same shop also inspected the limousine, rather than the state Department of Transportation as required, the document said.

A telephone message left with Mavis Discount Tires' corporate headquarters in Millwood, New York, was not immediately returned.

Prestige repeatedly changed the listed number of seats and took other steps to skirt safety regulations, according to documents released by the NTSB.

The safety board said last fall that the state Department of Transportation knew of Prestige's out-of-service violations and lack of operating authority and that the state Department of Motor Vehicles failed to properly register the limousine, allowing Prestige to circumvent safety regulations and inspection requirements.

In February 2020, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed limousine safety bills inspired by the upstate crash and one in 2015 on Long Island that killed four women.

One law requires safety belts, and another requires drivers of limos carrying nine or more passengers to have a passenger-endorsed commercial driver's license.

NY Limo Crash Plea Deal Rejected in Schoharie Birthday Deaths – NBC New York

Limo crash

All 17 limo passengers were on their way to a birthday party, plus the driver and two bystanders, when their limo T-boned in upstate New York in 2018

Published August 31, 2022 • Updated on August 31, 2022 at 7:42 pm NBC Universal, Inc.

A judge on Wednesday rejected a plea agreement that would have meant no prison time for the operator of a limo company involved in an upstate New York crash that killed 20 people in town for a 30th birthday celebration in 2018, drawing applause and tears from victims’ relatives who packed the court.

Judge Peter Lynch, who was not presiding over the case when the deal was reached a year ago in Nauman Hussain's case, called the agreement “fundamentally flawed. ”

It would have spared Hussain prison time, angering the families of the people killed when brake failure sent a stretch limo full of birthday revelers hurtling down a hill in 2018.

The judge’s rejection appeared to catch lawyers and relatives off-guard.

“I can’t even put into words how I feel. Totally unexpected. Thank God,” said Jill Richardson-Perez, the mother of limo crash victim Matthew Coons. “I’m in a better place now.”

Kevin Cushing, who lost his son Patrick in the crash, said the families “have a hope for a bit of justice to be served in the future, where we didn’t have any justice served in the past."

Hussain, who operated Prestige Limousine, had been charged with 20 counts each of criminally negligent homicide and second-degree manslaughter in what was the deadliest U.S. transportation disaster in a decade. The agreement called for Hussain to plead guilty only to the homicide counts, resulting in five years of probation and 1,000 hours of community service.

Lawyers for both sides said last year the plea agreement assured a resolution in a case that would have faced an uncertain outcome if presented to a jury. While the National Transportation Safety Board concluded the crash was likely caused by Prestige Limousine’s “egregious disregard for safety” that resulted in brake failure, the board said ineffective state oversight contributed.

The crash killed 17 family members and friends, including four sisters and three of their husbands, along with the driver and two bystanders outside a country store. It was the deadliest transportation disaster in the United States in a decade.

Lee Kindlon, an attorney for Hussain, has said his client tried to maintain the limousine and relied on what he was told by state officials and a repair shop that inspected it.

Axel Steenburg rented the 2001 Ford Excursion limousine for wife Amy’s 30th birthday on Oct. 6, 2018. The party group, ranging in age from 24 to 34, included Axel’s brother, Amy’s three sisters and two of their husbands, and close friends.

En route to a brewery, the limo’s brakes failed on a downhill stretch of road in Schoharie, west of Albany. The vehicle blew through a stop sign at over 100 mph and crashed into a small ravine.

Schoharie County District Attorney Susan Mallery’s office has said Hussain allowed passengers to ride in the limo despite having received “multiple notices of violations” from the state and having been told repairs were inadequate. State police said the vehicle should have been taken out of service because of brake problems identified in an inspection a month before the crash.

On Wednesday, Lynch said Hussain's actions show he knew the risk of putting the limousine on the road the day of the crash, and a guilty plea to only criminally negligent homicide does not reflect that.

Lynch specifically mentioned that a state Department of Transportation out-of-service sticker had been placed on the limousine a month before the crash. State police recovered the sticker from Hussain’s car after his arrest. Prosecutors have argued that Hussain took the sticker off the limo’s windshield so that he could rent it for more jobs.

Lynch gave Hussain’s lawyers the choice of accepting a sentence of 1 1/3 to four years in prison or withdrawing his guilty plea. They chose the latter.

The next court date has been set for Sept. 14. Hussain, who had been on interim probation, will go out on bail and be subject to GPS monitoring.

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90,000 A wedding limousine crashed in the US. 20 people died

October 7, 2018

Image copyright, CBS

Image caption,

Accident under investigation

A wedding limousine crash killed 20 people in New York State, local police said. 18 of them were car passengers and two people were pedestrians.

According to the police, two cars collided in the town of Shokhari on Saturday afternoon.

Eyewitnesses said the limousine ran off the road and crashed into a crowd of pedestrians outside a store near a busy intersection.

Limousine passengers other than the driver and front seat passenger were not required by state law to wear seat belts.

It is not yet clear what caused the accident. An investigation is underway.

Image copyright Getty Images

Image caption,

Relatives of the victims arrived at the scene of the accident

The driver of the limousine also died, police said, saying the victims' names would be released after their families were notified.

A correspondent for local online news outlet Spectrum News tweeted photos and videos from the scene.

The footage shows rescue service cars parked along the highway, which was closed to traffic.

I am at the scene of a terrible accident next to road 30A in Shokhari. Looks like one of the cars went off the road and crashed. Rescue services are active.

Another photo posted on Twitter shows the limo running off the road and crashing into a tree.

State Police: 20 confirmed casualties in limousine accident.

According to local media reports, several people who were near the entrance to the store were injured as a result of the incident.

"I heard a loud bang and saw that there were a lot of people in the parking lot next to Apple Barrel [name of store and cafe]. Then I heard screams," a local resident said.

New York State Police spokesman Richard O'Brien said the investigation is still in its infancy and noted that various police departments are involved, including body identification specialists.

Image copyright, Getty Images

Image caption,

Police officers block the highway

The National Transportation Safety Board says it has also sent its own team to investigate the limousine accident.

The police reported that a hotline had been set up for relatives of the victims.

The scene of the accident is reported to be in a hilly area and only very recently the authorities for safety reasons banned the passage of trucks on some sections of the road.

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo said: "I am deeply saddened by the loss of 20 people in this terrible accident. I join all New Yorkers in mourning the loss of life and share the unspeakable grief felt by family and relatives".

New York State crash is the worst in the US in nine years

October 9, 2018

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Photo credit, Family handout/ CBS

Image caption,

Erin and Shane McGowan (left) and Amy and Axel Steenburg got married in June

A wedding limousine accident in New York State has been described by US authorities as the worst traffic accident in the United States over the past nine years. It killed 20 people, including two married couples who got married four months ago.

Amy and Axel Steenburg, who got married in June, celebrated Amy's birthday. They invited 16 friends and family on a tour of local wineries and breweries.

The limousine driver lost control of the car for an unknown reason.

Among the dead is another young couple who also celebrated their wedding in June - Erin and Shane McGowan.

Amy Steenburg's three sisters also died, they were between 30 and 35 years old.

"They were beautiful, playful girls. They had their whole lives ahead of them," said their aunt Barbara Douglas.

The brother of the dead girls said that the sisters were very close, they were even called "the four musketeers".

How did the accident happen?

According to the testimony, a white limousine traveling at a speed of about 95 km/h did not stop at a traffic light, drove into an intersection, hit a car parked near the store, and flew into a roadside ditch.

A parked car hit by a limousine hit two pedestrians. They, like 18 people in the limousine, died.

The tragedy occurred near the town of Skohary, New York on Saturday afternoon.

Image copyright, Family handout

Image caption,

Left to right: Alison King, Abby Jackson, Mary Dyson and Amy Steenburg Colgan Air Flight 3407 crashed near Buffalo in New York State. The crash claimed the lives of 50 people.

A relative of one of the victims said that a 2001 limousine was rented instead of a bus that the group intended to take on a tour of wineries and breweries, thus celebrating Amy's 30th birthday.

He told the Washington Post that one of the victims had sent a message shortly before the accident that the limousine was in a terrible state.

"I love you so much"

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In her last Facebook post, dated October 3rd, Amy Steenburg thanked her husband for being so kind and loving.

"I just want to tell Axel Steenburg that I can't tell you how much I love you!" she writes.

Axel's brother Rich Steenburg also died in this car accident. According to a website that collects funds for his funeral, Rich has a young daughter.

Other dead include Robert and Mary Dyson, who were married nine years ago. They have a common son.

The best man from the Steenburg wedding Matthew Koons died along with his girlfriend Savannah Bursis. Among the dead is another couple: Patrick Cushing and Amanda Hulse, they met for two years.

An online fundraiser for the children of Abigail and Adam Jackson, who also died, raised $57,000 by Monday.

"Adam and Abby were amazing parents of girls and left too soon," says the fundraising page. It notes that both children are under five years old.

What happened to the limousine?

It is still unclear why the driver of the limousine lost control and why there were so many casualties in this accident. There are no answers to these questions.

Some believe that the limousine has been modified and lengthened, and this has affected the safety of its operation.

This is not the first accident with such limousines, which are usually rented to campaigns for various anniversaries, weddings and holidays.

A wedding limousine crashed in the USA. 20 people died
Social media users found a photo of the culprit in a fatal accident

In 2015, a similar limousine crashed in the Long Island wine region, killing four bridesmaids. New York State investigators then began to investigate cases of unregulated modifications to limousines.