TRUCK ACCIDENT CLOSES ROUTE 22 IN AUSTERLITZ, NY. DRIVER OF A TRACTOR TRAILER ACTED TO AVOID A DEER IN THE ROAD ON ROUTE 22, CAUSING THE TRAILER TO DISCONNECT FROM THE CAB.

TRUCK ACCIDENT CLOSES ROUTE 22 IN AUSTERLITZ, NY.  DRIVER OF A TRACTOR TRAILER ACTED TO AVOID A DEER IN THE ROAD ON ROUTE 22, CAUSING THE TRAILER TO DISCONNECT FROM THE CAB.

Jarimia Leon was hauling a concrete pool frame south on Route 22 when the truck began to bounce causing the tractor to become disconnected from its load. The tractor of the concrete piece has been moved to the back of the load to help prevent it from rolling downhill. A wrecker from Roberts in Albany stands ready at the left to assist.

Posted: Friday, January 9, 2015 12:00 am

By Arthur Cusano
Columbia-Greene Media | 0 comments

AUSTERLITZ — An accident involving a tractor trailer and a concrete pool piece slowed traffic on Route 22 in Austerlitz for almost three hours Thursday afternoon.

The accident occurred at approximately 4:34 p.m. when the driver of a tractor trailer pulling a concrete roof frame for a pool on wheels acted to avoid a deer in the road on Route 22 at Fog Hill Road, said Columbia County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. Wayne Lopez.

“He pushed in the clutch and when he took the clutch off, the truck started hopping,” Lopez said.

The hopping caused the pool roof frame to become disconnected from the truck.

The driver of the truck, Jarimia Leon, 30, of Big Lake, Minnesota, was unharmed. The truck he was driving, owned by Lefebvre & Sons of Elk River, Minnesota, sustained no damage, Lopez said.

One side of the roadway was opened to traffic while Department of Transportation investigators worked at the scene. A crane was brought in to lift the frame pieces back on the truck, Lopez said.

The road was completely reopened at 6:50 p.m., according to Columbia County 911.