Driver charged in fatal crash
Woman died when pickup was struck by speeding SUV
The man who led police on a high-speed chase that ended in a fatal crash on Route 299 in the town of Lloyd has been charged with manslaughter and vehicular homicide, state police said Wednesday.
Ryan B. Williams, 29, of Poughkeepsie, was taken into custody Tuesday at Westchester Medical Center, police said. Williams had been undergoing treatment at the hospital since the July 1 crash.
He was charged with the felonies of aggravated vehicular homicide with a blood-alcohol content of 0.18 percent or more, manslaughter, fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle and aggravated unlicensed driving; and the misdemeanors of drunken driving, aggravated drunken driving and reckless driving, police said. A blood-alcohol content of 0.18 per-
cent is more than twice the state’s legal limit of 0.08 percent.
Williams was arraigned in Lloyd Town Court and sent to the Ulster County Jail without bail, police said.
Danielle M. Pecoraro, 39, of New Paltz, was declared dead at the scene of the crash, which happened about 7:30 p.m. July 1. Her daughter, Mercedees Rosado, 24, of New Paltz, a passenger in the 2018 Ford pickup driven by Pecoraro, was injured.
The incident began when Lloyd police responded to a report of an erratic driver, and an officer tried to pull over a 2008 Porsche Cayenne SUV, driven by Williams, as it sped west on Route 299, state police said at the time.
State troopers joined Lloyd police in the pursuit and, as Williams’ SUV approached the intersection of South Street, it struck the side of a 2008 Ford. The SUV then crossed over into the eastbound lane and struck Pecoraro’s pickup head-on, police said. A 2016 Toyota driven then struck the rear of the SUV.
Police have not described any injuries to people in the Toyota or the 2008 Ford.
Williams was taken to Westchester Medical Center immediately after the crash and later underwent multiple surgeries.