Bizarre accident closes Patroon Island Bridge

YOUR DESCRIPTION HAS REACHED THE LIMIT OF CHARACTERS ALLOWED AND WAS CUT. UPDATED
ALBANY-- Westbound lanes of I-90 near the Patroon Island Bridge are back open after a bizarre chain of events snarled traffic for hours and sent a Poestenkill man to the hospital.

What exactly led up to the accident Tuesday morning depends on who you ask.

"We received a call for an auto accident on the bridge," Albany Fire Chief Warren Abriel said.

The Albany Fire Department responded and when they did they say it appeared a man hit the guard rail. They say he may have exited his vehicle to look at the damage but then quickly realized he would get pinned if he did not hop the guard rail and get out of the way.

A construction worker on scene told first responders he saw the man either jump or fall fifty feet off the Patroon Island Bridge and into a blanket of snow.

"There was a construction worker that had seen this, got in his truck and drove around to the other side of the bridge where they are working on the repairs there and by the time he got there he looked up, didn't find the person. [...] He was climbing up the hill back on to the highway," Abriel said.

First responders say the man was then hit by a tractor trailer doing about 25 miles per hour.

"I had heard that he had some possible breaks in the arm, arm injury, some lacerations and road rash on his back. Possible internal injuries," Abriel said.

First responders say the man was still conscious when paramedics rushed him to Albany Medical Center.

"Conscious and talking, yeah," Abriel said.

Meanwhile, state police closed the westbound side of the bridge while they reconstructed the accident. Drivers were routed elsewhere leading to backups and headaches.

"I did my daily routine," driver Kevin Swanson said. "Next thing you know I'm stuck in traffic."

After hours of investigating, state police determined that at no point did a man fall or jump off the bridge. Police say instead, 32-year-old Daniel Granger got a flat tire and then for some reason crossed two lanes of traffic before being struck by a tractor trailer and thrown 50 feet.

State police say the tractor trailer was a Ryder Rental truck operated by ABC Refrigeration and driven by 52-year-old Charles Keller.

As far as the descrepency in the two stories, first responders say they only know what they were told when they first got on the scene and state police are still investigating.

CBS6 also reached out to the New York Department of Transportation to talk with the construction worker about what he saw but we were told he did not want to be interviewed.

Meanwhile, no charges have been filed.

At last check Granger was in stable condition at Albany Medical Center with head and chest injuries.
ALBANY -- Police activity shut down the westbound lanes of I-90 on the Patroon Island Bridge after a man jumped off the bridge to avoid getting hit by oncoming traffic.

Officials say the man, Daniel Granger, 32, from Poestenkill, got out of his vehicle when the driver-side front tire blew out. When he got out of the vehicle, he apparently realized he would be pinned by oncoming traffic, and jumped over the side of the bridge in an attempt to escape.

Albany Fire Chief Warren Abriel says witnesses working on the bridge saw the man jump and land on a snow bank more than 50 feet below. They say despite the fall, the man was able to walk up the side of the hill and back onto the bridge, where he was then struck by a tractor trailer going about 25 miles per hour.

According to authorities, the man was taken to Albany Medical Center with broken bones in his arms, road rash and lacerations. His cond

Видео Bizarre accident closes Patroon Island Bridge канала CBS6 Albany