Yates Co. crash victims' names released

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Driver charged in Yates Co. crash that killed 5

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Investigators in Yates County are still trying to identify the victims in a crash that claimed the lives of five people and injured several others. It happened Tuesday afternoon in the Town of Benton, just north of Penn Yan. All five people killed were Amish, part of a group on a tour of farms in the area. Our Bill Mich has more.

Steven Eldridge

YATES COUNTY, N.Y. -- Five people were killed and several more injured after a crash involving a tractor in the Town of Benton. That's in Yates County, about seven miles north of Penn Yan.

NEW INFORMATION

Sheriff's deputies said the injured include Lyn Oles, 41, Martha Hostetler, 36, Rose Anna Miller, 31, Andy Byler, 60, and Evia Hersberger, 38, who are being treated at Strong Hospital. Enos Miller, 32, and Emery Miller, 47, were also treated at Strong and have since been discharged.

Another person in the van, John Mast, 47, and the driver of the tractor, Tim LaBarr, 44, are at Geneva General Hospital.

Steven Eldridge has a court appearance scheduled for Friday morning. He's in jail in lieu of $125,000 cash bail, $250,000 bond.

The crash happened early Tuesday afternoon in the Town of Benton near the intersection of Pre-Emption Road and Loree Road. Authorities say more than a dozen people were involved in the crash, which included a van, a car, and a tractor crop sprayer.

The Yates County Sheriff says it appears the car was attempting to pass the tractor on a curve at the same time that a van carrying 13 Amish passengers was coming in the opposite direction. The car hit the van, forcing it under the tractor. The five people killed were passengers in that van.

"This was a horrific accident scene. I've been in this for 40 years, it's one of the worst accidents I've ever seen. We had to have extrication done by multiple fire departments to get the individuals out of the van, there were multiple EMS units at the scene, there were multiple medivac helicopters that came into the scene, landed in a field to take people out," Yates County Sheriff Ronald Spike said.

Eight people involved in the crash were taken to area hospitals, some of those with life-threatening injuries were airlifted. One other passenger was treated at the scene.

The driver of the car, Steven Eldridge, 42, of Penn Yan, has been charged with five counts of criminally negligent homicide and DWI. He has also been charged with reckless driving, failure to keep right and speeding.

Eldridge is in the Yates County Jail on $250,000 bail.

Press Conference

Yates County Sheriff Ronald Spike held a press conference Tuesday afternoon. You can watch that in its entirety below. It is approx. 22 minutes long.