Claverack crash witnesses surprised at 15-year-old's arrest

Posted at: 06/29/2012 5:53 PM | Updated at: 06/29/2012 6:16 PM
By: Beth Wurtmann

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CLAVERACK -  Bob Kardum said he was watching TV when he heard a loud crash and looked out his window.

"I see this kid running from, right there where that telephone pole is. He ran straight across the road into those woods there. And I thought that was kind of shocking. But I knew he caused it," Kardum said.

State police launched an extensive search for the driver, after they said he led them on a short pursuit down Route 23B. They say he was behind the wheel of this white van when he crossed over the double line and hit two oncoming cars.

"They were taking one lady out of the van she was injured pretty badly and another lady was sitting on the side of the road," said Joe Kardum, who owns City Body Shop near the scene of the accident.

Four people were taken to Albany Medical Center, one with serious injuries. Clean up took until 4:30 in the morning. Police said they located the teen in his grandmother's garage not far away, and that he's a runaway from the Berkshire Farms Youth Center in Canaan.

"You're 15-years-old, driving a vehicle you shouldn't even be driving. It shows a little irresponsibility or - it is irresponsible," Joe Kardum said.

The teenager, whose name was not being released, faced charges of reckless endangerment, unlawfully fleeing an officer and other violations. Now investigators said they want to know how he got keys to the van before causing this horrendous wreck.

"Juvenile. Kids, they don't think right. Their brains are not mature so they just do what they want to do," said Bob Kardum. "How anybody lived through this, I don't know. But it was a mess."

A spokeswoman from Berkshire Farms Youth Center said the teenager was no longer enrolled there, adding that the facility is not locked, but residents are only supposed to leave the grounds with an adult. 

Still Photos in this report were taken by Bob Tomaso.