LERAY, New York (WWNY) – A Carthage-area woman was involved in two crashes at the same intersection in a matter of a couple of hours Tuesday night in the town of LeRay. It was the second crash that killed 32-year-old Amy Salazar.
It’s something first responders say they have never seen before: one woman involved with 2 incidents at the same location.
It started a little after 8 p.m. Tuesday when a sedan crashed into the back of a pickup truck, which was turning left into the Walmart plaza along Route 11 in the town of LeRay. (See photo below)
Jefferson County sheriffs deputies say the sedan’s driver, 32-year-old Justin Grandjean of Copenhagen, was arrested for driving while intoxicated.
Salazar was a passenger in the sedan. After the crash, deputies say they helped Salazar across the road to the convenience store where she could then catch a ride.
But, at around 10:30 p.m. at the same intersection, police say Salazar had walked into the highway and was struck by a pickup truck.
She died at the scene.
“I have never seen that in my 18 years of emergency services. It’s extremely rare. I’m not sure if anyone at my agency has seen that, and it’s very unfortunate,” said Leah Murphy, Evans Mills Volunteer Ambulance.
State police say the pickup truck that hit Salazar was driven by 31-year-old Robert Simmons of Evans Mills.
Troopers say Simmons was evaluated at the scene by a state police drug recognition expert and showed no signs of impairment.
The big question is: why was Salazar still at the scene more than 2 hours after the first crash?
Police are investigating, and say the two separate crashes appear to be related.
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