Criminal case in limo crash slows NTSB probe

Federal safety investigators have been unable to conduct a full examination of the limousine involved in a crash that killed 20 people nearly two weeks ago in Schoharie, N.Y., because local prosecutors are probing it as part of their case against the limo company’s operator.

An Ulster County man was among the dead.

While a National Transportation Safety Board spokesman says it is working cooperatively with local officials, people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press that investigators have privately expressed frustration over their inability to fully examine the limousine.

They spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity in order to discuss sensitive conversations.

The limo remains in the possession of New York State Police after the limousine company’s operator was charged four days after the crash with criminally negligent homicide.

A state police spokesman said it could be sev-

eral more weeks before the NTSB is granted handson access to the limo. The NTSB would get in line behind state investigators and the lawyer for the limo company’s operator.

“The vehicle is the most important piece of evidence

that will help ultimately determine the cause of the crash, and the extent of any criminal wrongdoing,” spokesman Beau Duffy said in a statement. “If the NTSB were allowed to handle evidence before it has been fully examined and processed by the state police and the defense, it would jeopardize the criminal case.”

NTSB spokesman Eric Weiss said investigators

were able to look inside the limousine briefly and have not conducted a full examination. But he stressed that the agency is working closely with state police.

“We anticipate getting everything we need in a timely fashion,” Weiss said. “They have a criminal investigation to do. We have to accommodate that.”

The federal agency is charged by Congress to conduct

independent probes and can make urgent safety recommendations to address specific issues discovered during an investigation. The NTSB expects to release a preliminary report on the wreck in the next several weeks, Weiss said.

The district attorney in Schoharie County did not immediately return a call from the AP seeking comment.

The limousine loaded

with 18 people on their way to a birthday party in Cooperstown for one of the occupants ran a stop sign and crashed at the bottom of a hill in the town of Schoharie, about 70 miles northwest of Kingston. Everyone in the limo died, including four sisters. Two pedestrians, including James Schnurr, 70, of Kerhonkson, also were killed.

State police said Friday that autopsy results showed

all 20 deaths were caused by “multiple severe traumatic blunt force injuries.”

Prosecutors allege the limousine company operator, Nauman Hussain, allowed an improperly licensed driver to operate an “unserviceable” vehicle. Hussain has pleaded not guilty to the criminally negligent homicide charge.

The limo is owned by Prestige Limousine of Gansevoort, in Saratoga County.