HEAD-ON CRASH
LEADS TO FELONY DWI CHARGE. THE MAN
CRASHED A STOLEN FAMILY PICKUP TRUCK INTO AN ONCOMING VEHICLE ON STATE ROUTE 12
IN SHERBURNE, CHENANGO, NEW YORK
January 17, 2015
A 38-year-old Norwich man was charged with felony
driving while intoxicated and other charges Tuesday, after he crashed a stolen
family pickup truck into an oncoming vehicle on state Route 12 in Sherburne,
Chenango deputies said.
Jeremy M. Sawyer, who is on parole for a prior DWI, was
charged with driving while intoxicated, a class A felony, first-degree
aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and second-degree
unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, both class E felonies, deputies said. He
was also ticketed for moving from his lane unsafely, improper passing, refusing
to take a breath test and operating a motor vehicle without an ignition
interlock device, with further charges pending, deputies said.
According to deputies, at about 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sawyer
drove around a northbound traffic barrier where a tractor-trailer had earlier
gone of the the road.
The pickup truck crashed head-on into a southbound
vehicle operated by Jeffrey VanCourt, 43 of Sherburne. VanCourt and Sawyer were
treated at the scene. A female passenger was taken to Chenango Memorial
Hospital with minor injures. The truck was on fire when law enforcement arrived
at Sawyer’s vehicle. He was unable to exit, but police managed to get him out
the passenger door. Fire extinguishers were needed to put out the flames.
Sawyer was arraigned in Sherburne Town Court and sent to
Chenango County jail on $15,000 cash bail, deputies said. He is to reappear at
a later date.