By Ben Crnic
A man who stopped to help the victims of an overnight crash in Rockland County died after falling down an embankment while trying to reach an injured 18-year-old driver who was later arrested for drunk driving, police said.
The incident happened at around 1:20 a.m. on Tuesday, July 28, when officers responded to a report of a single-vehicle crash on Palisades Center Drive near Home Depot in West Nyack, Clarkstown Police said on Tuesday afternoon.
When officers arrived, they said they found a Toyota Camry that had left the roadway while traveling south, struck a guardrail, crashed through a fence, and overturned onto its driver’s side.
According to the department, both people inside had gotten out of the vehicle before officers arrived. A 32-year-old male passenger told officers he had freed himself from the wreck and that the 18-year-old female driver was no longer inside. He also reported that a passing driver had stopped to help but did not know where he had gone.
While searching the area, officers heard the driver calling for help from beneath a retaining wall, around 30 to 40 feet below the roadway, in an area of dense vegetation.
Police said officers then climbed down the embankment and found the injured driver along with an unresponsive 43-year-old man from Maybrook.
Police believe the victim had stopped to help after seeing the crash and, after hearing the driver calling for help, walked to the edge of the retaining wall before accidentally falling down the embankment, suffering fatal injuries.
He was pronounced dead at the scene. His identity is being withheld pending notification of his family, police said.
As for the driver and passenger involved in the crash, they were treated at the scene and taken by Rockland Paramedic Services and the Nyack Community Ambulance Corps to nearby hospitals for evaluation.
Following the preliminary investigation, police arrested the 18-year-old driver, who is from Carmel, and charged her with driving while intoxicated, a misdemeanor, along with other New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law violations related to the crash. Her name was not released.
She was released on an appearance ticket and is scheduled to appear in Clarkstown Justice Court at a later date.
Clarkstown Police are still investigating the crash. Anyone who witnessed the incident or has information is asked to contact the department at 845-639-5800.