Police pursuit preceded fatal crash on reservation

TWO WERE KILLED: Akwesasne driver and one passenger dead; another is recovering

By BRIAN HAYDEN
JOHNSON NEWSPAPERS

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2011

HOGANSBURG — A pursuit by the Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service preceded a fatal accident last week in Hogansburg.
The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe issued a news release late Tuesday afternoon which provided more information on the one-vehicle crash at 2:30 a.m. Oct. 26 on North Road. The accident killed the driver, Amber Lynn Aliff, 19, and a passenger, Dakota Benedict, 22, both of Akwesasne. A second passenger, Sidney Oakes, also of Akwesasne, is recovering from her injuries at Fletcher-Allen Health Care in Burlington, Vt.
Ms. Aliff’s vehicle was involved in a “Fail to Comply/Stop with Akwesasne Mohawk Police Service,” which covers the Canadian side of the St.Regis Mohawk Reservation, immediately prior to the accident, according to the release.
“The vehicle failed to stop for AMPS when directed to do so in St. Regis Village, province of Quebec. The vehicle continued southbound onto St. Regis Road, in Hogansburg . . . where AMPS continued to follow the vehicle and notified the Tribal dispatcher of the vehicle’s actions and location,” the release said.
           “The vehicle continued southbound through the intersection onto North Rd where it was observed to pass another southbound vehicle and then lost control as it failed to negotiate a bend in the road and crashed into a tree,” according to the release.

The St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Police, which cover the American side of the reservation, have been investigating the accident since it occurred. The investigation is continuing, the release said. Details on the speed of the vehicles before the crash were not available.
The pursuit comes one year after criminal negligence charges filed against two Akwesasne Mohawk Police officers stemming from a fatal Nov. 14, 2008 crash on Cornwall Island were dismissed.
Provincial Justice Charles D. Anderson ruled that Constable Michael Biron and Sgt. Kenneth Chaussi’s actions in a high-speed chase leading up to the crash could not be proven to be criminally negligent. The crash claimed the lives of Massena couple Edward and Eileen Kassian, both 77, and suspected cigarette smuggler Dany Gionet, 21, of Quebec. The charge against Mr. Biron of dangerous driving causing death also was dismissed.
Mohawk Council of Akwesasne officials could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20111102/NEWS05/711029875