DIDN'T ASK IF OTHER DRIVER AND DAUGHTER WERE OK
FALLSBURG POLICE ALLEGEDLY SPENT MOST OF TIME INTERVIEWING KANTROWITZ WHILE MOSTLY IGNORING FESSAK'S SIDE OF STORY
LIVINGSTON MANOR - Megan A. Fessak, a registered nurse who was involved in an April 2018 accident with Isaac Kantrowitz on Route 42 in Woodbourne, today told The SullivanTimes that Fallsburg police officers first interviewed the former judge on the scene and barely interviewed her -- even though she was rear ended by the vehicle driven by Kantrowitz.
According to Fessak, she was lost on that day and had pulled into the parking lot of John's Auto so she could use her GPS safely.
"Once I was ready to leave I checked traffic in both directions...and was overly cautious when looking over to the left being that the road had a tight curve 500 plus feet prior to John's Auto," Fessak said. "Upon confirming my left side was clear, I proceeded to make a right turn from John's Auto onto SR 42 heading north. A few seconds after fully entering Route 42, I was slammed from behind by another vehicle. The force was so great that it spun my car completely around, facing now the opposite side of the road. "
She said that she and her daughter did not suffer serious physical injuries.
Fessak was traveling with her autistic daughter, whose name is on the accident report. She alleges that Kantrowitz should have seen her bright blue vehicle in the road and would have had sufficient time to slow down, adding that there were no skid marks. Fessak said that Kantrowitz's vehicle ended up in a ditch on the opposite side of the road.
Fessak said that immediately after the accident, she asked Kantrowitz if he was okay, but that he never asked her the same. “It disturbed me later on,” she said. Fessak's cellphone (described by Fessak as a flip phone) did not have service in the area so she asked if she could use his cellphone so they could call the police - but she says he refused to call police and then further refused when she asked if she could use his phone to make the call.
It turned out that upon the impact of the accident, though, her new vehicle called OnStar, the built-in electronic system that automatically contacts emergency responders in serious crashes where air bags are deployed. She says that Fallsburg Police showed up in about 20 minutes, followed by EMS and the fire department.
She said that John Chevalier of the Fallsburg Police Department did not come over to ask for her version of events. "So I found it necessary to approach him in his squad car in order to explain to him what had actually happened," Fessak said, adding that she believes the officers were attempting to “railroad” her into believing the accident was entirely her fault. “They didn’t seem to believe me, “ she said.
Fessak added that Kantrowitz at least three times kept asking Officer Chevalier to call 'them" to say he was running late for his meeting but that Chevalier told the retired judge that was very busy and he would have to wait.
On April 28, Fessak said that she went to the Fallsburg Police Department in South Fallsburg to pick up the accident report with her husband.
"Immediately after receiving the police report I noticed that the view depicting the positions of the cars after the accident was not correct and I also noticed that the "pictures taken" box was checked "no," she said.
Fessak he said that she was advised by the sergeant that the report had not been submitted to the state yet and that she could speak with Officer Chevalier when he returned.
"Once Officer Chevalier arrived I spoke to him, and mentioned that the way the report is written and the view that the autos were depicted make it appear that the accident was my fault," Fessak said. "Officer Chevalier told me that had it been my fault he would have issued me a ticket. "
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