New York Trooper Killed in Crash

Nov. 27, 2018

New York State Police Trooper Jeremy J. VanNostrand was reporting to work at the State Police barracks Tuesday morning when his vehicle was rear-ended and pushed into oncoming traffic.

By Times Union (Albany, N.Y.)

GLEN, New York — State Police confirmed that a state trooper died from injuries he suffered Tuesday morning when his car was rear-ended and pushed into oncoming traffic on Route 5S just south of the village of Fultonville.

Trooper Jeremy J. VanNostrand was reporting to work at the State Police barracks when the crash happened at 7:45 a.m. He died at Albany Medical Center Hospital, State Police said.

The trooper was stopped as VanNostrand prepared to turn into the driveway for the local barracks when the other car struck the cruiser, troopers said.

Accident investigators have been at the crash seen throughout the morning and early afternoon.

There was no immediate word on the condition of any other drivers. State Police have not said if any tickets or other charges will be issued.

VanNostrand was from Schenectady, according to the announcement the governor's office issued when he joined the State Police academy in December 2012. Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered flags lowered to half staff on Tuesday.

VanNostrand leaves behind a wife, daughter, his parents, a sister and a brother.

Before being assigned to the Fonda barracks, VanNostrand worked in Middletown, Liberty and Granville. He joined the troopers after spending eight years as a state corrections officer.

The crash occurred about 14 miles from where Trooper David W. Cunniff, 35, was killed Dec. 16, 2013, when his patrol car was crushed by a tractor trailer that rolled onto the shoulder of the Thruway.

Cunniff had pulled over another vehicle for speeding when the 2013 crash occurred just east of the Exit 27 ramp to Amsterdam. The driver of the semi, Gary Blakely, had been working 16 minutes beyond the 14-hour limit for truck drivers when the crash happened. Cunniff, a Schenectady native who had been a trooper for nine years and lived in Princetown, died from massive injuries the next day.

Blakley was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and sentenced to three years in state prison. Now 70, he completed his prison term in August.

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