An Owasco man has been charged with vehicular homicide for allegedly driving drunk before a
Dain Schneider, 33, formerly of 6977 Owasco Road, allegedly was operating a 2013 Chevy Avalanche with a blood alcohol content of .23 percent the night he crashed into the back of 18-year-old Chloe Calhoun's vehicle on Route 38A, also known as East Lake Road in Owasco. Police said Schneider was driving in excess of 90 mph, heading northbound on East Lake Road.聽
According to a Friday news release from the Cayuga County District Attorney's Office and the Cayuga County Sheriff's Office, new charges filed against Schneider include aggravated vehicular homicide, a class B felony, aggravated driving while intoxicated, a class D felony and reckless driving, a misdemeanor. Those charges include a minimum sentence of 8 1/3 years to a maximum of 25 years in prison.
of felony driving while intoxicated, first-degree unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and operating a motor vehicle without in ignition interlock device. Schneider has two prior DWI convictions, one in 2007 and one in 2011.聽
On July 27, Calhoun had left the Tom Thumb Drive-In parking lot around 9:41 p.m. when Schneider crashed into her vehicle. The investigation into the accident revealed Schneider slammed into Calhoun's car without slowing down, according to officials. The impact threw Calhoun's vehicle straight ahead until it flipped onto its side and came to rest in the northbound lane. Schneider's truck veered into an eastern ditch.
Calhoun was wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash, but due to the collision from the rear, her airbags did not deploy to help protect her, according to the release. Calhoun died later that night at Upstate University Hospital from multiple traumatic injuries sustained in the impact.
Schneider, who is currently being held in Cayuga County Jail, will be arraigned on the new charges before Judge Thomas Leone at 10 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 16. Auburn attorney David Elkovitch has been assigned to represent Schneider in the case.
