WESTMORELAND -- A road is closed in Oneida County because of an alleged hit-and-run crash overnight.
According to Oneida County sheriff’s deputies, West South Street is shut down between Fairway Drive and Creaser Road in the Town of Westmoreland. Police say 26-year-old Ethan McKinstry's 1999 Chevrolet pickup truck had front-end damage when a deputy confronted him at a nearby Nice-n-Easy store around 12:30 a.m.
The deputy linked the damage back to an accident just a few minutes before on West South Street. Police say McKinstry lost control of his vehicle on the slippery road, slamming into a telephone pole and snapping it in half. Debris and power lines remain strewn across the road.
Deputies say McKinstry had a blood-alcohol content of .14% and has been charged with driving while intoxicated, leaving the scene of a property damage motor vehicle accident, failure to keep right, and for not wearing his seat belt. Police say McKinstry is scheduled to appear in Westmoreland Town Court in late January.
