A flat tire on the Route 50 arterial early Saturday morning led to a crash that resulted in both drivers being charged with driving while intoxicated, city police said.
Joshua W. Noll, 27, is charged with first-degree vehicular assault and felony DWI after his car rear-ended one that was pulled over because of the flat, police said.
The driver changing the flat, Spencer A. Kilburn, 22, was fortunate his car was pushed in the other direction and he wasn’t hurt, said police Lt. Robert Jillson.
“The more we looked at it, it could have been a lot worse,” Jillson said.
The crash occurred about 5:30 a.m. Saturday on the eastbound arterial between Veterans’ Way and Northway Exit 15.
While both men have Gansevoort addresses, there is no indication they knew each other, Jillson said.
Arriving officers found a 2012 Chrysler off the right shoulder, with significant rear-end damage, and a red 2014 Honda Accord in the on-coming traffic lanes with significant front-end damage. The driver, identified as Noll, had fled, leaving an injured passenger, police said.
Police said the Chrysler had a passenger-side front flat tire, and Kilburn and a passenger were changing the tire when their car was hit. Afterward, witnesses said, Noll ran up a grass embankment and into a neighborhood, where he was soon found by police.
A 27-year-old passenger in Noll’s car was taken by ambulance to Albany Medical Center for treatment of internal injuries. He remained there Monday, Jillson said. Noll suffered only minor cuts.
He was charged with first-degree vehicular assault based on the accident, the injury and his having a prior DWI conviction, Jillson said. He was also charged with felony leaving the scene of an accident and circumventing a court-ordered ignition interlock device.
Noll was arraigned and sent to the Saratoga County Jail in lieu of $10,000 cash or a $20,000 bond.
Kilburn was charged with DWI. “As we talked to him it became clear he was drunk,” Jillson said.
Kilburn was released without bail to the custody of a third party.
Reach Gazette reporter Stephen Williams at 395-3086, [email protected] or @gazettesteve on Twitter.
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Categories: News, Schenectady County
