(COLUMBIA COUNTY, N.Y.) -- A deputy responding to a call was not speeding when his car smashed into a pickup truck, killing a high school art teacher, the sheriff’s department said Tuesday.
Deputy James Funk, 38, remained in fair condition at Albany Medical Center Hospital one day after the accident that killed Thomas J. Rowley, 52.
Funk was a former student of Rowley’s, who taught at Ichabod Crane High School for 30 years. He was also the girls’ varsity basketball coach.
Columbia County Undersheriff Warren Dorsch said a State Police accident reconstruction team is working to determine what happened, but it appeared Rowley did not see the oncoming car because his view was blocked by a pickup truck in front of him. Funk had his lights and siren on at the time of the crash, Dorsch said.
Neither car appeared to be speeding, according to witness statements, Dorsch said. The speed limit on County Road 21 at that location is 55 mph.
Funk was on his way to a call of an unattended death. The case involved a hunter who died of an apparent heart attack. Departmental guidelines require a deputy to get to a scene of an unattended death -- where a person dies without a physician present -- as quickly as possible to secure the scene and to determine whether any foul play is involved.
State Motor Vehicles Law states that the driver of an emergency vehicle can stop, stand or park regardless of the law; proceed past a red light, flashing signal or stop sign but only after slowing down; and exceed the speed limit as long as he or she does not endanger life or property.
In an emergency, police vehicles must have a siren and a lamp that can be seen from 500 feet away under normal weather conditions.
Funk suffered a severely fractured heel in the crash as well as a broken hip, cuts, bruises and a concussion.
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