Two motorcycle crashes with one fatality
Two motorcycle crashes on Sunday afternoon — one of them fatal — shut down state Route 3 down near Sevey Corners and then near the Dump Road in Piercefield for several hours.
The St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department responded to a crash less than a mile east of the Sevey Road intersection in Childwold, which occurred around 3 p.m. when a motorcycle driven by Brandon R. Cardinell, 24, of Gouverneur collided head-on with a minivan driven by Paul G. Jensen, 46, of Warrensburg.
Cardinell was pronounced dead at the scene when St. Lawrence County Coroner Joseph White arrived at 4:30 p.m.
An autopsy will be performed at the Canton-Potsdam Hospital this evening, but White said it appeared the cause of death was massive trauma. Jensen was taken to the Adirondack Medical Center in Saranac Lake for minor injuries.
Both vehicles met in the middle of the two lanes running in opposite directions, but police said it is still unclear what caused the collision.
The sheriffs were assisted by Colton Fire and Rescue, Piercefield Volunteer Fire Department, Cranberry Lake Fire and Rescue and New York State Police. The Tupper Lake Volunteer Fire Department responded by sending an engine and manpower to stand by at the Piercefield fire station and were called away around 5 p.m. to help with traffic control at a second motorcycle crash near Dump Road in Piercefield and set up a landing zone for Life Flight.
The second crash between a motorcycle and a Chevrolet Suburban resulted in one member of the crash being flown out of the Piercefield Town Garage by Life Flight.
No further information about the second crash was available as of press time.