A car crashed into two tree planters in front of Cayuga Hall on Sunday, Nov. 8. The incident is not like the usual car accidents on and around Oswego State’s campus, University Police Department Lieutenant Matthew Barbeau said.
“Something like that has never really happened in the 16 years that I’ve been here,” Barbeau said. “We’ve never had anybody drive into a building like that.”
The car’s driver was Emily Bray, a 20-year-old from Rome, New York. Bray is not a student at Oswego State but was on campus visiting a friend, Barbeau said.
Barbeau said Bray was having an argument with her girlfriend when the collision occurred.
Richard Kolenda, Assistant Vice President for Residence Life and Housing, said her car was going the wrong way around Seneca Circle when it jumped the curb and headed toward Cayuga. The vehicle hit a planter outside the building’s entrance, careened off it and cracked a second planter.
He said it is believed that she was under the influence of alcohol and possibly marijuana, though the police department is waiting for the results of the toxicology report. Marijuana residue was found in a grinder in the vehicle.
When the vehicle struck, Bray’s knees hit the dashboard.
She was arrested at 3:41 a.m. and transported to the hospital for care. At 9 a.m. on Sunday, Bray was arraigned at the Oswego town court. Barbeau said a $500 cash bond was set. The bond was paid that morning, Kolenda said.
According to her arrest report, Bray was charged with criminal mischief, unlawful possession of marijuana, driving while intoxicated, operating a motor vehicle under the influence of drugs or alcohol, reckless driving and not wearing a seatbelt. She was also charged with driving on a sidewalk, unsafe lane change, unreasonable speed and driving the wrong way on a one way street.
Although Kolenda said there were students on the sidewalk at the time of the incident, no one else was injured.
“If it weren’t for the planters, she could have gone through the front doors,” Kolenda said. “Could have gone right into the building, and that could have been very serious. It was fortunate that she hit the planters.”
Students did witness the incident from their residence halls or outside. Several posted pictures of the scene on their social media accounts. Allehah VanLoan, a resident of Cayuga Hall, observed the accident from Seneca Hall.
VanLoan, junior, said she thought “that person is going to be in a lot of trouble,” and that she was “angered by the thought of possible drunk driving.”
“I watched the scene on and off until the car was removed, peeking out the window to stay up to date,” VanLoan said.
Other members of Residence Life staff declined to comment.
In his 38 years at Oswego State, Kolenda said he has never seen anything like this.
“We’ve had broken windows and things of that nature,” Kolenda said. “But never a vehicle running off the roadway and into a building. That was pretty severe.”
Kolenda said the preliminary estimate for the costs of damages is $3,000. The broken planter will be replaced. Cayuga Hall has some scrapes and cracks on its front. The cost estimate of these damages has not been made.
“It doesn’t hurt the function of the building; it’s more cosmetic than anything else, but it still needs to be taken care of,” Kolenda said.
Bray or her insurance company will pay for the damages.
The scraped planter in front of Cayuga Hall has been turned around so the damaged part is not visible. The planter that cracked has been removed and the 6-foot tree it housed has been replanted.
