Charges to follow airport car crash
OLEAN — Charges could be filed by Friday against Casey A. Comes, 20, of Cuba, and against one or all of his three passengers, who were in his vehicle at about 10:30 p. m. Sunday when he drove his car at a high speed off the east end of the Cattaraugus- Olean Airport runway, overturning it at the bottom of a 100-foot embankment, Cattaraugus County officials said.
Capt. Robert Bucchardt of the county Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday that the district attorney wants statements from the four before deciding what charges to file against Comes or his passengers, Jodi L. Bobseine, 19; Ryan M. Cook, 19; and Brandon J. Reilly, 18, all of Cuba.
All four were taken by ambulance to Olean General Hospital after the crash, and one of the group was later transported to Erie County Medical Center, Buffalo, with more serious injuries and remains hospitalized there.
“I want to make sure the kids are all right first [before charging them],” Bucchardt said.
He said he thinks the four went to the airport runway to see how fast the four-cylinder 1994 Pontiac would go, attained a speed of about 80 mph and misjudged the length of the runway in the dark.
One 72-foot-long skid mark from the right front tire shows Comes tried to put on his brakes as he approached a set of runway lights at the end of the pavement, officials said. The car squeaked between the runway lights, missing them by inches, then skidded for another 115 feet in the grass before going airborne at the embankment, landing on the ground, flipping over a fence and landing upside down, according to deputies.
One of the passengers had a cell phone and dialed 911.
“They’re very, very lucky to be alive,” said Bucchardt, who added that the four had no license or permission to be driving on the 4,800-foot runway.
An investigator will begin questioning the four Wednesday.
The City of Olean is cooperating in the investigation and will provide airport surveillance tapes of the entrance and the runway apron.
The crash occurred just as work on a new security fence was being completed at the airport. The fence is the last piece in a series of renovations at the facility. Three gates are the last thing to be installed, but not until the openings are widened to accommodate snow removal equipment that is used during the winter.
