Teen says deer caused fatal crash

JOHNSTOWN - An 18-year-old local youth was killed late Wednesday night when the car he was riding in crashed into a tree.

The driver of the car, who survived, said he was trying to avoid a deer.

Fulton County sheriff's deputies said Joseph W. Page III, of 210 Willie Road, was killed in the crash, which occurred at 10:16 p.m. on County Highway 131, south of County Highway 101 in the town of Johnstown.

A report said emergency medical services were notified three minutes later and arrived at the scene four minutes after that.

"Mr. Page was killed instantly," Sheriff Thomas J. Lorey said today.

The report said Page suffered a severe head injury. He was pulled from the wreckage with an extraction tool and was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:10 p.m.

Deputies said Page was a passenger in a 2006 Nissan Sentra driven by his friend, Joseph M. Dorman Jr., 17, of 246 County Highway 101. Dorman complained of a shoulder-upper arm injury and was taken to Nathan Littauer Hospital in Gloversville.

Lorey said the teens were headed to Page's home from an area sports event. A passing motorist who was employed by the Ambulance Service of Fulton County called 911, Lorey said.

Dorman was ticketed on charges of failure to keep right and driving out of class. Lorey said he shouldn't have been driving after 9 p.m. because of his age.

Deputies said Dorman was heading northeast on blacktop on County Highway 101, and he said he swerved to miss a deer. The car turned sideways, skidded across the southbound lane, went off the west shoulder and its passenger side struck a tree. Lorey said the road at the site curves sharply.

The sheriff said the investigation into the accident is over and there was no indication the driver was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

"It was sad because there was no other reason for it than a deer ran into the road and the driver lost control of his vehicle," Lorey said.

Michael Anich can be reached at johnstown@leaderherald.com.