Two Teens Dead in 1-Truck Crash in Slate Hill

SLATE HILL, NY — Two people died and three were injured in an overnight crash that police attributed to speed and wet road conditions in Orange County.

At 2:09 a.m. Sunday, state police from the Greenville station received a report of a one-vehicle accident in the area of 2806 Route 6 in Slate Hill.

Responding troopers found a Ford F-350 pickup truck had driven off the roadway and struck an Orange and Rockland utility pole. All five of the occupants had been ejected from the vehicle.

A rear-seat passenger, Jared B. Santillo, 19, of Monticello, was dead at the scene. The other occupants were transported by ambulances to Orange Regional Medical Center where the vehicle’s driver, Vincent J. Peluso, 19, of Middletown, was pronounced deceased.

Two other occupants were treated for broken bones and released, while a third was admitted to the hospital in serious condition with internal injuries.

A preliminary investigation indicates that the vehicle was traveling too fast to negotiate a curve in the roadway, with wet road conditions also a contributing factor.

Troopers were assisted at the scene by Slate Hill and Wawayanda Fire Departments, and New York State Department of Transportation. The accident remains under investigation.