AUBURN -- The Cayuga County Sheriff’s Office tells Action News that it is continuing to investigate a traffic-related homicide that took place Friday night on Route 370 in the Town of Cato.
79-year-old William L. Levea of Fulton is charged with second degree murder, driving while intoxicated and reckless driving after police say he repeatedly rammed his vehicle into the rear of a pickup truck driven by 41-year-old Christopher J. Spack of Camillus. The ramming allegedly caused Spack to lose control of his truck and cross into the path of an oncoming pickup truck driven by Bradley Leyburn of Cato.
Upon collision, Spack was ejected from his truck. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Leyburn suffered minor injuries. A fourth vehicle also struck Spack’s truck. The driver and passenger in that vehicle were not injured.
In a statement released to the media, Sheriff David Gould says that detectives are looking into the activities of Levea in the hours before the fatal crash. Police say that Levea left a relative’s residence in Hannibal at around 3:30 PM, but are unsure where Levea was or what he was doing between 3:30 and 6:30 PM, when the incident took place.
Gould also says that detectives are investigating a similar "ramming" incident which was reported at 6:10 PM that same evening along Route 31 near Youngholm Lane in the Town of Elbridge. In that incident a driver reported being struck from behind three times by a vehicle matching the description of Levea's car. Detectives are trying to determine if these two incidents are related.
Detectives are asking that anyone who saw William Levea or an orange 2008 Dodge Caliber four-door with New York license plate # EDX 6213 between the hours of 3:30 PM and 6:30 PM on Friday contact the Cayuga County Sheriff’s Office at 315-253-1610.
At last check, Levea was being held in the Cayuga County Jail without bail. He was not injured in the crash.
