Cobleskill man died Friday night after being struck by a village police car while crossing East Main Street.
The deceased is Gerard Roldan III, 26, and his death is just the latest in a series of tragic fatalities in Schoharie County this past week.
“It’s tragic for the victim, his family, our department and our community,” said Cobleskill Police Chief Rich Bialkowski.
He gave the following account:
Two village police cars were eastbound on East Main at about 10pm when a speeding vehicle passed them going westbound. Both police cars turned around, and officers saw the speeding car run a red light at the intersection of East Main and Legion Drive.
As the police cars tried to intercept the speeder, Mr. Roldan entered the street near the Save-A-Lot grocery and walked into the path of the lead police car, which couldn’t avoid him.
“At the time of the accident, there were inclement weather conditions including rain and wet/slick roads,” according to Chief Bialkowski.
Both police cars stopped, and officers administered CPR and called emergency services. AMR Ambulance Service took Mr. Roldan to Cobleskill Regional Hospital, but he did not survive his injuries.
The officer whose car struck Mr. Roldan voluntarily submitted to an alcohol test, which was negative, and also voluntarily submitted a blood sample to be tested for drugs.
State Police were contacted to perform an independent investigation, and the Schoharie County District Attorney’s Office was also to investigate.
But in a development Monday, Schoharie County DA Susan Mallery asked Otsego County DA John Muhl to investigate instead of her office handling the case.
The State Attorney General’s Office––which may also investigate the accident––must approve Mr. Muhl’s involvement, and Schoharie County Judge George Bartlett must also give his okay.
“This will help make sure there’s no conflict of interest,” said Ms. Mallery, whose husband is a Cobleskill Police Officer.
“We want to make sure the public has complete confidence in what we do.”
And further, Cobleskill Police are conducting an internal review.
“We’ll see if anything should have been done differently in terms of the circumstances,” Chief Bialkowski said.
The involved officer was placed on administrative leave, according to Chief Bialkowski.
The incident may go to a grand jury, Ms. Mallery said, depending on what the investigations discover.
“A lot of information could be learned from the vehicle itself,” she said.
Withholding the officer’s name, she added, is standard procedure because it’s a personnel issue within the department.
State Police, an accident reconstruction team, the Cobleskill Fire Department and Ms. Mallery responded to the scene Friday night.