Poughquag man sentenced for DWI in fatal East Greenbush accident
TROY – A 42-year-old salesman from Poughquag NY received a 1- to 3-year prison sentence in Rensselaer County Court Monday for aggravated driving while intoxicated under Leandra’s Law for his part in an August 2018 fatal accident in which another defendant faces manslaughter charges, a spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office said.
Rex Tucker-Moss of Poughquag pleaded guilty to the charge in May, admitting that he was driving drunk with a blood alcohol content of 0.16, twice the legal limit, with his two children under the age of 15-years-old, the spokeswoman said.
Tucker-Moss was involved in a three-vehicle accident on Aug. 11, 2018, on I-90 in East Greenbush that resulted in the death of another motorist, Lynn Bammann, 71, of Nassau, who died at the scene.
Judge Jennifer Sober will hold a suppression hearing Tuesday afternoon for the third driver involved in the crash, August L. Rice, 24, of Clifton Park, who faces a nine-count indictment including three felony counts of first-degree manslaughter, three felony counts of second-degree vehicular manslaughter, misdemeanor driving while ability impaired by the combined influence of drugs and alcohol and two misdemeanor counts of DWI. Rice was charged as a repeat offender due to his Jan. 13, 2017 conviction in Albany City Court of misdemeanor DWI.
Rice was driving his 2008 Mercury Milan when it struck Bammann’s Honda Civic, damaging a passenger side door just past Exit 9 on the eastbound side of I-90 in East Greenbush on Aug. 11, sending it across the median into the oncoming westbound traffic, according to police. Bammann’s Civic then collided with a westbound 2017 Cadillac XT5 SUV driven by Tucker-Moss, according to police and the indictments.
Rice had a blood alcohol content of 0.13, which is above the legal limit of 0.08, the indictment stated. Rice also had taken the prescription drugs Lexapro, Klonopin and bupropion for anxiety and depression, according to police and the indictment.
Tucker-Moss’s guilty plea and sentence satisfied his indictment for two felony counts of second-degree vehicular assault, two felony counts of aggravated driving while intoxicated, two misdemeanor counts of driving while intoxicated and two misdemeanor counts of endangering the welfare of a child. At the time of crash, another adult and two children, ages 7 and 10, were passengers in his vehicle.
“When the defendant chose to drive after drinking heavily, he imperiled his wife, his children, his animals, and every single driver he encountered from Poughquag to Troy,” District Attorney Mary Pat Donnelly said in a statement.
Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Dorando is prosecuting both cases.
