Four passengers die in car crash; driver taken to hospital by helicopter
Four men died Wednesday after the car in which they were riding went down an embankment and crashed into a house at 76 Dock St. in Saugerties.
By Matthew Corvin and James Nani
Times Herald-Record
Posted Aug. 26, 2015 at 4:56 PM
Updated at 12:03 AM
SAUGERTIES, NY - Four male passengers in their 20s were killed and the 19-year-old female driver from Kingston was injured in a car crash Wednesday morning, police said.
The driver, Meredith McSpirit, was flown by helicopter to Albany Medical Center with spinal injuries but was conscious and in stable condition Wednesday night, according to Saugerties Police Chief Joe Sinagra.
The four men were identified as Kaireem Meeks Jr., 24, Jante Clark, 26, Dante Crump, 22, all from Kingston, and Adam McQueen, 22, from Ulster Park, in a press release issued late Wednesday night by the Saugerties Police Department. They sustained fatal injuries in the crash and were declared deceased at the scene by the Ulster County Medical Examiner.
At about 11:38 a.m., the vehicle, a 2002 Honda Accord, carrying the five was traveling southbound on Washington Avenue, a busy narrow road that neighbors said is used as a shortcut to avoid the village's main drag.
Where Washington Avenue turns sharply and joins with Montgomery Street, the vehicle went past Satten Lane, a private road. The vehicle went over a steep embankment and traveled about 110 feet down before landing on its roof and slamming into a residence on Dock Street, Sinagra said.
"It's a tragedy anytime anyone gets killed," Sinagra said. "Especially multiple victims. It's surreal."
The town's building inspector deemed the residence, 76 Dock St., uninhabitable, Sinagra said, adding that the gas and electric were shut off. A woman in the home declined to comment.
"The structural integrity was compromised," Sinagra said.
State police were brought in to conduct an investigation with their accident reconstruction team, Sinagra said, and will make the final determination as to the cause of the accident. Police said they were awaiting an autopsy for the causes of death.
The crash is being investigated as a homicide, Sinagra said, the same as with any fatal crash, until the investigation is completed.
"Any time an individual is killed, we always treat it as a criminal investigation," Sinagra said. "Any time we have a death, we always treat it as a homicide."
HITS CEO Tom Struzzieri said all five in the crash were employees of HITS and coming from a shift Wednesday. He said the four men worked in the VIP section of HITS, while McSpirit worked in food service.
"Our hearts go out to the families of these young people," Struzzieri said.
Tony Davis, a teacher at M. Clifford Miller Middle School in Kingston, arrived at the accident scene with his daughter. He said he found out about the crash through his daughter, who he said attends college with one of the men who died.
He knew Crump and McQueen, he said, because he had coached them, Crump on the Kingston modified football team, and McQueen in modified basketball. Davis described them as "great kids."
"They had their life ahead of them," Davis said. "I'm just wrapping my head around this. It's just a tragedy here."