Town of New Hartford NEW YORK

TOWN of NEW HARTFORD

ONEIDA COUNTY

NEW HARTFORD POLICE DEPARTMENT

32 KELLOGG ROAD, NEW HARTFORD, NEW YORK 13413-2850

 Telephone: 1-315-733-6666

Fax: 1-315-724-8618

-   -   -   -   -    Press Release    -   -   -   -   -

April 20, 2009

Fourteen Year-Old New Hartford Boy Injured in Car Pedestrian Accident

A New Hartford boy was seriously injured this afternoon when he was struck by a mini-van after exiting his school bus. New Hartford Central School student Jared N. Chontow, age 14, is currently in critical condition at SUNY Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse.

At 2:34 PM, New Hartford Central Dispatch received a 911 call from the New Hartford Public Library, stating that a child had just been struck by a car. New Hartford Police responded to the scene along with the New Hartford Fire Department and Edwards Ambulance. 14 Year old Jared Chontow was found lying in the roadway suffering from numerous injuries, the worst being trauma to his head. Chontow was treated at the scene and then transported to St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center. After being treated and stabilized at St. Elizabeth’s’, Chontow was then transported to the SUNY Upstate Medical Center where he is currently in critical condition.

New Hartford Police have established through their investigation that at about 2:30 PM, Chontow was returning home along with twenty other students on the school bus from New Hartford’s Perry Junior High School where he is a student in the eighth (8th)  grade. Witnesses at the scene reported that after the northbound school bus Chontow was riding on came to a stop, it displayed its red warning lights alerting motorist that a student was being discharged. Chontow exited the bus and then walked in front on the bus headed towards the west shoulder of Oxford Road. At the same time a blue mini-van being operated by 16-year-old Zeeshan M. Akhtar was traveling southbound on Oxford Road approaching the stopped school bus. Akhtar, who had just received his junior’s operators license last week failed to stop for the stopped school bus, continued traveling south on Oxford Road passing the school buses warning lights and struck Chontow.  Akhtar is a tenth (10th) grade student at New Hartford High School.

New Hartford Police Department reconstruction investigators were assisted with processing the scene by the Utica Police Department Accident Reconstruction Unit.

The New Hartford Central School District has activated their Crisis Team to assist students and faculty in dealing with this incident.

Akhtar was issued traffic tickets for Failing to Stop for A Stopped School Bus and Failure to Have Headlights on While Operating his Windshield Wipers. The accident is still under investigation and additional charges may be filed.

More Press Releases