NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — Niagara Falls mayor Robert Restaino says the recorder with digital information from the vehicle was destroyed when the Bentley exploded at the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls back in November of 2023.
He said investigators learned that Bentley transmits information to a central location for the manufacturer.
"We thought we might be able to get some information, just some of that recorder information from the manufacturer," because he said they had been helpful in the early stages of the investigation.
However, the mayor said "When we started to get into some particulars and asked for some specific information, I think, understanding the totality of the incident, they then asked us to get a subpoena. Obviously, given the fact that, as our Police Department is doing an investigation, the ability to get a subpoena would require them to go to the district attorney's office to get that and without there being a criminal investigation or anything of that sort, this was merely a traffic and accident investigation. We didn't have the ability to get that subpoena and so they (Niagara Falls) pulled together all of the information that they had. and created a report or at least a file that indicated as far as they could go. The investigation Is closed at least in terms of where they're at right now, should additional information arise then obviously our Police Department would continue to pursue."
He admits there are many unanswered questions including if there were issues with the make and model of the vehicle, what was the repair history, and what was going on with the couple inside the car at the time of the crash.