LEICESTER - Sheriff Thomas J. Dougherty reports of a fatal motor vehicle crash into a building. On October 27, 2020 at approximately 6:57 a.m., Sheriff’s Deputies and emergency personnel responded to the intersection of Cuylerville Road and Canandaigua Street for the report of a vehicle that had crashed into a building.
Responding units arrived and found that the vehicle involved was well into the building. Both the vehicle and building were fully engulfed in flames with a person trapped inside the vehicle. Bystanders who had arrived prior to emergency personnel had attempted to free the operator but the fire became too much and the building began to collapse. The extreme flames, debris falling and smoke pushed the good Samaritans out of the building.
Several firefighters with the Cuylerville, Leicester, Geneseo, York, Mt. Morris, Dansville, Perry, Perry Center, Castile, Nunda, and Caledonia Fire Departments worked diligently to extinguish the flames as members of the Sheriff’s Office investigated the crash. The preliminary investigation revealed that the vehicle involved was traveling westbound on Cuylerville Road and failed to negotiate a sharp curve in the roadway before striking and entering the building where the vehicle ignited and fire quickly spread to the building.
Once the fire was completely extinguished, investigating Sheriff’s Deputies were able to confirm that there was one occupant in the vehicle and that the occupant was the driver and was deceased. The body was transported to the Monroe County Medical Examiner’s Office for identification and has been positively identified as 26 year old Joshua L. Truax of Leicester following a dental comparison. Members of the Sheriff’s Office Command Staff, Patrol Division, Criminal Investigations Division, Forensic Identification Unit (FIU), Communications Bureau, and Drone Unit conducted and coordinated the investigation under the command of Patrol Division Acting Captain Ryan Swanson. The Livingston County Fire Coordinator’s Office, Livingston County EMS and the Livingston County Coroner's Office assisted on scene. The cause of the crash remains under investigation by the Sheriff’s Office.
