BUFFALO, N.Y. — NY State Police say charges are pending against a Jamestown man, who was involved in a fatal car crash in Chautauqua County over the weekend.
They also say this is the second fatal accident that Randall Rolison, 59, has been involved in within less than a year's time.
It happened at the intersection of State Route 83 and Center Road in the Town of Arkwright Saturday night.
According to Trooper James O'Callaghan, the investigation has determined that a 2020 Chevrolet TrailBlazer driven by Rolison was traveling southbound on Center Road, failed to stop at the stop sign, and struck a 2018 Ford F-150 traveling westbound on State Route 83 at approximately 10:30 pm on Saturday, December 3.
The operator of the Ford, Gary A. Kraemer, 71 of South Dayton, NY was transported to Brooks Memorial Hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. The passenger of the Ford, Linda A. Kraemer, 71 of South Dayton, NY was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced deceased at the scene by the Chautauqua County Coroner.
"The Ford ended up leaving the roadway after being struck by the vehicle, hit an earth embankment, and unfortunately the victim was thrown from the vehicle," O'Callaghan said.
According to O'Callaghan, as of Monday morning, Rolison was still a patient a UPMC Hamot hospital in Erie, PA, where he faced surgeries, which is part of the reason why he had yet to be charged.
"We can't issue tickets to someone whose not on the scene or coherent after leaving the scene," O'Callaghan said.
2nd Time in Less Than a Year
Less than a year ago, on New Year's Eve, 15-year-old Alexis "Lexy" Hughan was hit by a tractor-trailer while crossing a street in Jamestown, for which Rolison was later indicted for manslaughter, leaving the scene of a fatal accident, and driving while ability impaired
In addition, he faced weapons counts for some guns prosecutors say were recovered from his truck.
"I'm at a loss like everyone else is," said Chautauqua County District Attorney Jason Schmidt, during an interview Monday afternoon with Western New York NewsNow.
Following Rolison's arraignment, Schmidt had asked Chautauqua County Court Judge David Foley to set bail for Rolison at $500,000.
However, the judge set bail for Rolison at $35,000 cash, $70,000 bond for the charges tied to the fatal crash, and $50,000 cash, $100,000 bond for weapons possession charges, according to an article published in The Observer.
Under New York's controversial bail reform laws, the judge had to set the "least restrictive" amount of bail...of which defendants can be released by paying as little as one to ten percent of the amount set by a judge. The Observer reported that Rolison was able to post bail in February.
"We have to get to a place where we can get Albany to listen to us," Schmidt said.
When Rolison was able to post bail and gain his release from custody, community members staged a protest.
On Monday afternoon Lexi Hughan's mother Sara Rafaloski told Channel 2 that learning Rolison was involved in another fatal accident, while the case against him regarding her daughter's death is still pending, is like rubbing salt in a wound.
"Why did Judge Foley let someone get out of jail on the lightest bail possible? And then he (Rolison) went and did this to someone else! It was breaking for me to hear. My heart goes out to that family.
"We're in the process now of preparing an application to go back to Judge Foley who initially set bail," said Schmidt. "And we are now going to ask him to consider revocation of Mr. Rolison's bail"