Two New Jersey teenagers were killed in a traffic accident during a police pursuit in upstate New York, authorities said.
Driver Christian A. Enrico, 17, and his passenger and best friend Liam C. Pakonis (16), both of Wayne (Passaic County, NJ), were heading north on State Route 8 in the town of Guilford around at 9:40 p.m. Friday when a Chenango County deputy tried to stop them, according to the New York State Police (NYSP).
But Enrico kept driving toward the small town of Butternuts in Otsego County before going off the road and crashing into several trees at the intersection of State Route 51 and Flatiron Road, he said. nj.com. Both teens were pronounced dead at the scene.
Police did not disclose the reason for the traffic stop. The New York Attorney General’s Office is in charge of the investigation, he said. New York Post.
Both Enrico and Pakonis attended Wayne Hills High School, according to their obituaries. The driver’s family told CBSNews that the victims were starting their spring break and driving to a cabin when they collided around a sharp turn on a wet and foggy road. Enrico’s brother, Aaron Hensz, commented that he was supposed to meet them to spend the weekend fishing and off-roading.
In late February, a New York Police officer (NYPD) was seriously injured and her husband killed when she crashed her personal truck into a tree on Palisades Interstate Parkway while off duty, splitting the vehicle in two.
Hours earlier, also on that highway in Rockland County (NY), a 56-year-old driver had died after hitting a tree for apparently driving at excessive speed on Exit 16.