Hussain faces 40 felonies in crash
Grand jury indicts limo operator involved in 20 deaths in Schoharie
A grand jury in Schoharie County has indicted Nauman Hussain, the operator of the limousine company involved in the October 2018 crash at the Apple Barrel Country Store & Cafe, on 20 counts of criminally negligent homicide and 20 counts of second-degree manslaughter. In a hastily arranged press conference held in the lobby of the Schoharie County Courthouse, District Attorney Susan Mallery said little about the grand jury process or the specifics of the case going forward.
“We have worked extremely hard for the last six months,” Mallery said. “At this point, the only thing that I will say is that we handed up the indictment. I don’t think it’s appropriate to discuss the case.”
Mallery said a team of three grief counselors were calling the families of the victims Friday afternoon to inform them of the indictment.
The grand jury had been deliberating all day in a basement room at the county office building.
Just before 5 p.m., Mallery emerged from an elevator along with the grand jury foreman and
State Police Investigator Erika Hock, who has been working the case since the crash occurred. They proceeded to the courtroom of County Judge George Bartlett.
Neither Hussain — who is slated to be arraigned on Wednesday — nor his attorney, Lee Kindlon, were present at the court proceeding.
Friday was one of the final days left for deliberations by the grand jury investigating the Oct. 6 catastrophe. Prosecutors faced a deadline to indict Hussain within six months of his Oct. 10, 2018, arrest.
Hussain, the operator of Prestige Limousine, was arrested by state troopers just days after the crash and was initially charged with criminally negligent homicide.
The crash was the deadliest transportation disaster in the United States in nearly a decade. At the time of Hussain’s arrest, State Police said the 2001 Ford Excursion stretch limousine should not have been on the road due to safety concerns.
Seventeen friends and family, many from Amsterdam, were passengers in a stretch Excursion bound for a birthday celebration in Cooperstown when the limo blew through the intersection of Route 30 and Route 30A in Schoharie without stopping. It hurtled into the parking lot of the country store, causing the deaths of two pedestrians, before crashing into a ravine. All 17 passengers, the driver and bystanders died.
The Excursion had failed two roadside inspections by the state DOT in the months leading up to the crash and had been ordered off the road.
Earlier this week, the Times Union reported that the driver, 53-year-old Scott T. Lisinicchia, had a ”significant” amount of marijuana and traces of anti-seizure medication in his body at the time he died. Those finding could present a challenge to prosecutors as they pursue their case against Hussain.
The indictment was a strictly pro forma recitation of the charges and the victims, and contained no new information about the investigation.
Hussain ran Prestige Limousine for his father, Shahed Hussain, a former FBI informant who is living in Pakistan and is not facing criminal charges in the case.
Prosecutors charged Nauman Hussain, who remains free on bail, under the theory he knew the Excursion was unsafe and that the driver was not properly licensed to drive a passenger vehicle that large.
Kindlon, Hussain’s lawyer, hadn’t yet seen the indictment papers Friday night or been notified by the court.
“We have only seen reports in the press, but I can say that this is a flawed indictment fundamentally at odds with itself,” Kindlon said. “Mr. Hussain is not guilty of criminal wrongdoing, and we will fight for him every step of the way.”
Nauman and his brother Shahyer also operate the Crest Inn Suites and Cottages in Wilton for their father, who has run a variety of businesses in the Capital Region since arriving in the U.S. from Pakistan more than 30 years ago.