WYOMING COUNTY/Sheriff: “What is clear is not everyone was wearing a seat belt and no child seats or booster seats were in the vehicle”

Press release

Sheriff Gregory Rudolph reports: On May 26, 2019 at 6:39 a.m., the Wyoming County Sheriff’s Office 911 Center received calls of a crash with multiple ejections and injuries on Route 20A at Maxon Road in the Town of Sheldon. The initial investigation by Deputies has revealed a seven passenger Kia Sedona with a family of nine from New Jersey were westbound on Route 20A when a southbound Dodge Ram 2500 pickup truck on Maxon Road went through the intersection without stopping at the stop sign and struck the Kia Sedona in a “T-Bone” type collision.

The Kia Sedona had one adult male, three adult females and five children (ages: 14, 10, 4, 4, 4). Two adult women were ejected and pronounced dead at the scene by Wyoming County Coroner Jennifer Prutsman-Pfeiffer. They have been identified as Ondina Castro De La Cruz- age 47 and Mayelin Brito-Castro- age 32. One of the four year old children was taken by Bennington Ambulance to the Wyoming County Community Hospital (WCCH) for head injuries and died about an hour later.

Additionally from the Sedona:

1. The adult male, Reyes Rodriguez- age 55, was taken by Warsaw Ambulance to WCCH and was later released.

2. An adult female, Maria Brito-Castro- age 26, was taken by Monroe Ambulance to ECMC and maybe released today.

3. The 14 year old was taken by Attica Ambulance to WCCH and later transferred to Oishie Children’s Hospital and is still receiving care there.

4. A 10 year old was taken by Varysburg Ambulance to Oishie Children’s Hospital and is still receiving care there.

5. A 4 year old was taken by North Java Ambulance to Oishie Children’s Hospital and is still receiving care there.

6. Another 4 year old was taken by Mercy EMS to Oishie Children’s Hospital and still receiving care there.

It is believed the entire family is from the Perth Amboy, NJ area. The Wyoming County Sheriff’s Office is still obtaining details of the family dynamic (how each are related) and how they were all positioned in the vehicle. What is clear is not everyone was wearing a seat belt and no child seats or booster seats were in the vehicle.

The driver of the Dodge truck was identified as Richard SAWICKI- age 20 of Lackawanna, NY. He was transported by the Strykersville Ambulance to ECMC and later released. He was arrested by the Wyoming County Sheriff’s Office for Aggravated Vehicular Homicide, Driving While Intoxicated and Reckless Driving.

SAWICKI was arraigned in front of Justice Fusani of the Town of Warsaw Court with District Attorney Donald O’Geen present and Michael Stivers of the Public Defender’s Office representing SAWICKI. SAWICKI was remanded to the Wyoming County Jail in lieu of $100,000 cash bail or $200,000 bond and his driver’s license was suspended. He is to return to Court on June 10, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. He has not posted bail or bond and is in Jail. The investigation is continuing and will likely take days or weeks. Additional charges are expected.

The Varysburg Fire Department co-managed the scene with the Wyoming County Sheriff’s Office and Wyoming County Emergency Services Office. Assisting were: Wyoming County Sheriff’s Office Crash Management Team, Elma EMS, Sheldon Fire Department, the New York State Police, New York State Park Police and Wyoming County District Attorney Donald O’Geen.