Crash kills 20-year-old man in Blenheim

State police say that a Preston Hollow man died in a one-vehicle crash on Friday, July 8 in the Schoharie County town of Blenheim.

According to Trooper Mark J. Cepiel, the public information officer at Troop G headquarters in Latham, troopers were dispatched at 7:56 p.m. on Friday to investigate the crash on Route 30 in Blenheim.

According to the accident report, 20-year-old Jacob B. Pruiksma was headed north on the highway when his vehicle veered onto the right shoulder and then overcorrected, overturning several times. 

Pruiksma, who was not wearing a seat belt, was partially ejected and the vehicle landed on top of him, according to the police report.

He was declared dead at the scene by a Schoharie County coroner and taken to Albany Medical Center for an autopsy. The cause of death was listed as massive head trauma.

Cepiel said that Pruiksma was alone in the vehicle and that there were no witnesses to the crash, which was reported by a passerby.

He said that there was “no evidence of criminality” and that no accident reconstruction is required. There was “clear indication of overcorrection,” he said, and the vehicle will be inspected to determine if there was equipment failure before the crash.

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