Buffalo, NY – Erie County Sheriff Timothy B. Howard reports Deputies and the Crash Investigation Unit responded to a crash on Versailles Plank Road on the Seneca Nation of Indians Reservation at approximately 7:45 a.m. Sunday morning.

The pickup truck, with multiple occupants, riding in both the cabin of the vehicle and in the bed of the truck, drove off the road and collided with a tree.  The impact caused many of the occupants to be ejected while others had to be extracted from the vehicle by fire company personnel.

At the scene, four victims were flown to Erie County Medical Center via Mercy Flight and three additional victims were transported by ambulance to ECMC.  While investigating the crash, Deputies received information that two additional victims left the scene and were at Lakeshore Hospital.  When Deputies arrived to conduct interviews it was discovered that a fifth victim was transported to ECMC via Mercy Flight.  Two of the victims remain in critical condition in Erie County Medical Center; other victims were treated for broken bones and lacerations. 

Deputies investigating the crash believe at least four passengers were in the cabin of the vehicle at the time of the crash while the remainder rode in the bed of the pickup truck. 

Charges against the driver, Jerry John, are pending and the incident remains under investigation.  The Sheriff’s Crash Investigation Unit is asking anyone with information about the incident or the victims to contact the unit’s office at 716.858.3270