Man charged in Adirondack crash that killed couple

PHOTOGRAPHER: The Associated Press

The driver of a pickup truck that crashed into a car in the Adirondacks while fleeing police, killing a couple and injuring their daughter, was high on drugs when he set off the pursuit with a hit-and-run accident in a crowded resort village, authorities said Friday.

Trevor Sisto, 20, of Fort Covington, was arraigned in North Elba Town Court early Friday morning on charges that include unlawfully fleeing a police officer and driving while ability impaired by drugs, state police said. Police didn’t know if he had a lawyer and a message left at the town court wasn’t immediately returned.

The crash happened around 2 p.m. Thursday in Ray Brook, in the High Peaks Region 115 miles north of Albany.

Troopers said Sisto’s truck collided head-on with a compact car driven by 42-year-old James Barney of Potsdam, who was killed. His 38-year-old wife, Kim, was airlifted to a Vermont hospital, where she died. Their 11-year-old daughter, Emily Colby, was in serious condition Friday at the same hospital.

The pursuit began in Lake Placid after village police received a report of a vehicle driving recklessly, troopers said. When police tried to stop him, Sisto hit a village traffic control officer’s car, before speeding off, police said.

Sisto had three children in the pickup — ages 11, 13 and 16 — but dropped them off at a fast-food restaurant before speeding away again, troopers said. Witnesses told local media that the pickup traveled in the wrong lanes and onto village sidewalks crowded with visitors ahead of Sunday’s annual Ironman triathlon. No one was injured.

Officials said troopers and Lake Placid police pursued the truck as it headed west on Route 86 toward Ray Brook, five miles away. In Ray Brook, Sisto drove into oncoming traffic and collided with the Barneys’ car in front of the state Adirondack Park Agency offices and near the entrance to the Troop B barracks.

Troopers immediately took Sisto into custody. He was charged in Lake Placid Village Court with attempted assault, reckless endangerment, endangering the welfare of a child, leaving the scene of an accident and numerous vehicle and traffic violations. He’s being held in the Essex County Jail on $100,000 bail.